Car Throttle

The slow-selling Porsche Cayman remains an enthusiast favorite, offering the performance of the mid-engined Boxster with a fixed roof. The Cayman is the latest Porsche model to received the "Black Edition" treatment, following the Boxster S and 911 Black Edition. The Cayman S Black Edition follows in the footsteps of its siblings, and lives up to its title. It truly is black, all over. The exterior is finished in black (of course) and is monochrome, with trim pieces such as the air intake grilles, twin exhaust pipes and badging finished in black. This carries through to the 19-inch Boxster Spyder wheels. Black remains the only color in the interior, but time aluminum and stainless steel accents are there to break up the monotony. Here it makes

I do like the Porsche Panamera. It may look like a very large toad and if you parked it beside an Aston Martin Rapide, a Maserati Quattroporte or a Mercedes Benz CLS you would find that it is actually very ugly in that sort of company. But that hasn’t stopped Porsche from selling a whole lot of them. The reason for this is presence. It has bus-loads of road presence and if one suddenly pulled up right behind you, you’d be slightly intimidated and move over in an instant. Unless you’re in something as equally rapid, that is. And with that little thought out of the way I’d like to introduce the new Porsche Panamera Diesel. The oil burning Panamera Diesel is obviously catered to those

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

In late November, the Porsche board officially approved production of a small Porsche crossover. The new crossover is to be called Cajun, as it has been consistently referred to by the automotive press. There have been various reports about the crossover, but most peg it as sharing underpinnings with the Audi Q5. There have been some noises about it being a three-door only model, but it is all just conjecture. What is clear is that Porsche has seen the success of the Cayenne and is looking to replicate it with a smaller model designed to attract younger buyers. We could see the Cajun doing battle against vehicles like the Land Rover Evoque. With a new model inevitable, Team Speed member Wild-Speed has created an artists

Rumours have been building about Porsche's latest unveil at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and finally we can reveal exactly what the German manufacturer is bringing to the table. Dubbed the 918 RSR, this hard-top racing version of the 918 Spyder concept looks set to hit the racetrack with an "unusual-for-a-Porsche" roaring V8 engine. The engine setup alone is expected to produce 563 horsepower at a staggering 10,300 rpm. What's more interesting is that the car introduces a hybrid setup akin to its GT3 R Hybrid kin to deliver a finale of 767 bhp (and in case you were wondering, the electric motors on the two front wheels each contribute 75 kW, i.e. a total of 150 kW). So, to conclude, this is the

If you're a car guy, chances are one of your past times is Craigslist. The free online classified ad website that has been running since 1996 is the perfect place to find everything from a sitter, to a new dog, to furniture, to your soul mate, to... a car!  Heck, my last car came from craigslist - friendly, knowledgeable seller, cool car, good price.  And while most stuff on craigslist is a bit normal ("2003 Camry, Grey, 86k, call Jeff...") occasionally you'll find something cool.  Here's what turned up with a quick perusal of my local CL. Don't tell me you're not tempted.  What is this heap?  Why, it's an Alfa Romeo Milano!  And what the hell is that?  Well, it was Alfa's competitor

If you're into cars, or hell, even if you're not, "Zero to Sixty" is a phrase you hear all the time. It's become such a standard phrase it has worked its way into everyday conversation, and media not even loosely related to automobiles.  Hell, there is (or, err, was) a whole magazine called 0-60.  At least in the United States and the UK, 0-60mph has become the standard measure of acceleration.  But why?  And really, why do we care? If common sense prevailed, the standard measure of a car's performance would really be it's power-to-weight ratio.  Nothing determines how a car performs in a straight line more directly than how much it weighs, divided by how much power it has.  Why?  Well, a 500bhp vehicle

In May of this year, Porsche introduced what is known as the fastest Porsche production road car ever - the 911 GT2 RS. Yes, even faster than dedicated supercars like mid-engined Carrera GT. In what has become an ongoing battle between the two, the car also beats the Nissan GT-R's fastest claim around the Nurburgring by 8 seconds. We'll have to see how the new Nissan GT-R fares - this battle is far from over. The limited run of 500 copies of the 911 GT2 RS sold out quickly after order availability opened up in October. All 500 cars being spoken for isn't stopping the aftermarket from trying to woo the car's buyers to up the performance ante even further though. For those

Another day, another Porsche. The brand that seems focussed on making as many possible derivatives off of as few chassis as possible introduced their latest flavor today, the Cayman R.  Think of it as a Boxster Spyder without the goofy teepee-tent roof, or if you like think of it as a lighter, harder, more basic Cayman S.  However you explain it, it looks like a seriously delicious recipe. Primarily, they've focussed on a making it a better driver's car the right way: less weight, faster responses.  The Cayman R is 121 pounds lighter than the normal Cayman S, weighing in at only 2,855lbs.  The weight loss program is similar to it's topless brother, the Boxster Spyder.  It includes lightweight sport seats, super lightweight alloys, leather straps