1964 Porsche 356 Sc 1600 Coupe on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Weekly Recap: Bentley Bentayga leads luxury SUV charge at Frankfurt

The Bentley Bentayga is launching a new era of ultra high-end sport utility vehicles that will see luxury makers vie for the world's richest and most exclusive customers. The Bentayga is Bentley's first SUV, and it will formally debut next week at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It's loaded with Bentley's best technology and features, led by a 600-horsepower W12 engine. The mission is simple: stop giving up sales to other companies by not having an SUV in its portfolio. "It creates an entirely new category of ultra-luxury SUV, where there are currently few rivals," IHS Automotive analyst Ian Fletcher said in a report. But Bentley and the Bentayga will soon face stiff competition. Archrival Rolls-Royce will produce its own crossover to be built in England, though timing is unclear. Lamborghini has approved plans for a ute that will be assembled in Italy and launch in 2018. Even the sportier British brands are getting into the market. Aston Martin will make a crossover version of the DBX concept shown earlier this year in Geneva, and Jaguar is launching the F-Pace crossover, which will debut in Frankfurt. These new entries will invigorate a segment that's comprised of the Mercedes G63 AMG and the Land Rover Range Rover SV Autobiography, and Bentley is poised to grab a large share of it, Fletcher noted. IHS forecasts Bentayga sales could hit 3,000 units per year in 2017 and 2018, pushing total Bentley sales to more than 10,000 in the next few years. The vehicle will also get plug-in hybrid and diesel variants to widen its reach. The Bentayga is a sales grab, for sure, but Bentley took care to ensure the SUV remained true to the brand. It's laden with the top-shelf wood, leather, and metal, and it comes standard with an expansive panoramic glass roof. It also has intelligent features like electronic night vision and an optional responsive off-road system that can be configured to adapt to eight different settings. It's a different kind of Bentley, but it's a harbinger of things to come for the world's richest luxury makers. Other News & Notes Toyota debuts next-gen Prius Toyota revealed the next-generation of its iconic fuel-sipping hybrid, the 2016 Prius, at an event in Las Vegas. The car promises 10-percent gains in fuel efficiency, though actual figures – and even powertrain specifics – were not revealed. We estimate that could mean about 56 miles per gallon in city driving and 53 on the highway.

Hamann Porsche Macan S Diesel promises more performance, questionable looks

Ignore the Gulf Oil livery for a minute (we know, it's hard). What we have under the blue-and-orange paint scheme is a diesel-powered Porsche Macan S, which is fascinating enough in and of itself. But this particular example has been upgraded by the folks at Hamann, for that added bit of oomph. Power output from the 3.0-liter V6 diesel is up from 258 horsepower to 300 hp. We buy diesels for torque, though, so it's the 494 pound-feet, up from 427 lb-ft, that really gets us excited about this modded Porsche. Taken together, the Hamann Macan S Diesel can hit 60 miles per hour in a decidedly un-diesel-like 5.7 seconds, down from 6.1 seconds. German tuners like Hamann are not known for their subtlety, of course, so beyond the power ugprades, the company has made its own aesthetic tweaks. The new body kit is, um, aggressive? Okay, it's really not very nice to look at. The Macan is a handsome vehicle on its own, but Hamann's efforts haven't done it any favors. It's extremely busy, particularly around the front and rear ends, where the tuning company's efforts seem focused. We're guessing some attention has been paid to the cabin, although it's impossible to tell on the Geneva show car, which has had all of its windows heavily tinted. Here's hoping any changes to Macan's cleanly styled cabin are kept to a minimum. Take a look at our full crop of live photos of the modded Macan, direct from the floors of the Geneva Motor Show. High-performance power, long-distance comfort, extravagance: the benchmark figures of the formidable Porsche Macan S Diesel are impressive. For all fans of the dynamic vehicle Hamann's tuning experts now sets the bar even higher. As is generally known, the model's name "Macan" was derived from the Indonesian word for tiger – and exactly this tiger Hamann frees from the ties of a series actor. The face of the Macan, which Hamann presents in the S Diesel version in Geneva, has self-confident traits. The tiger seems ready to jump – an effect achieved by the low line of the front apron and the lowering of the car. Hamann's aerodynamics attachment emphasises the sharp "teeth" of the Macan Turbo's standard front and sets distinctive accents. The car refiner's interpretation of the Macan S Diesel appears well-toned and is coherently continued in powerfully shaped wing extensions making the predator's body grow by twelve centimetres in width.

Porsche becomes first company to rent out Vatican's Sistine Chapel

We wouldn't go so far as to say God is a Porsche fan, but those in charge of one of the holiest Christian spots on our little blue marble are welcoming the German automaker into one of the religion's most revered and beautiful settings - the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. In so doing, Porsche will reportedly become the first company to rent out the holy hall for a corporate function.
Now, it's not like Pope Francis has signed off on Porsche doing do donuts in a 911 underneath Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam. Instead, the Vatican has rented out the home of the Papal Conclave to the Porsche Travel Club, which will host a classical music concert. The Travel Club organizes events and tours across Europe for Porsche enthusiasts, with the Vatican concert just one part of a tour of Rome.
According to Automotive News Europe, Porsche will sell 40 tickets - at 5,000 euros each ($6,379) - to the event, while the Vatican has confirmed that the Pope will not be in attendance.