2001 Twin Turbo 911 490hp, Seal Gray, Great Condition on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ford GT dominates Le Mans qualifying, gets slapped with performance adjustment

Fifty years after Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon drove the Ford GT40 to victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ford is poised for a historic return to the Circuit de la Sarthe. The new Ford GT took the top two qualifying positions in the LMGTE Pro class, and four of the top five. Ferrari's 488 filled in the rest of the spots in the top seven, the first two from AF Corse. In other words, we're primed for a reboot of the classic Ford-Ferrari feud at this year's race. Or not, as the ACO, which organizes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, announced sweeping pre-race Balance of Performance (BOP) adjustments this morning that make this year's GT class anybody's race. In LMP1, last year's overall winner Porsche locked up the top two spots with the 919 Hybrid and will lead the entire field at race start. Toyota's two-car factory effort followed with qualifying times 1.004 and 2.170 seconds behind the pole lap. Audi rounds out the manufacturer-backed LMP1 class in fifth and sixth. Full qualifying results can be found here. The storyline for the GT cars is perfect - some say too perfect. Ford's class-leading times came after BOP adjustment to the Corvette Racing C7.R before qualifying. BOP is intended to level the playing field in the class by adjusting power, ballast, and fuel capacity. (Check out this explainer video for more, or even just if you love French accents.) But the process is riddled with unknowns and ripe for accusations of sandbagging. That is, if the Ford cars were intentionally slow in practice they could hope for BOP adjustment to improve their race chances. On the Corvette side, last year's GTE Pro winner went from the top of the field to the bottom, barely improving from practice to qualifying. If you think Le Mans is as rigged at the NBA Playoffs, well, it's not that simple. Because if Ford and Ferrari held back until qualifying - the eighth-place Porsche 911 RSR is three-and-a-half seconds off the class pole time - it was a pretty dumb strategy. This morning, the ACO tried to put things back in order by limiting the boost in the Ford GT's twin-turbo V6 and adding 11 pounds of ballast. Ferrari was also given extra weight but allowed more fuel capacity. The Corvette and Aston Martin teams were both given breaks on their air restrictors, which will allow their engines to make more power. Both Ford and Porsche also received extra fuel capacity.

2014 Porsche 911 Targa

I've watched the electro-hydraulic roof panel open and close about 73 times in the past hour, but its fascinatingly complicated operation still has me mesmerized. I've concluded that only a German automaker - Porsche, to be more specific - would go through the trouble of engineering a roof system that essentially lifts the entire greenhouse off a vehicle, rearranges its components like a sliding-tile puzzle, and then reassembles all of them seamlessly (sans roof panel) to accurately recreate one of its most famed bodystyles.
The 2014 Porsche 911 Targa is a near-perfect modern interpretation of the automaker's 1965 911 Targa, a semi-convertible bodystyle that represents nearly 13 percent of all 911 models sold since production started 50 years ago. While the early car's roof was purely manual in operation - that's the period-correct way of saying that the driver did all of the muscle work - today's Targa is a completely automated transformation that requires only that the driver hold down a cabin-mounted switch for a mere 19 seconds to let the captivating show run its course.
After studying the Targa's elaborate roof operation at its launch at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year, I was sufficiently intrigued. To that end, I traveled one-third of the way around the planet to southern Italy, hoping that the Mediterranean climate would reveal a bit more about the reintroduction of the automaker's iconic sports car.

Well hello, Carice, you Porsche-aping EV cutie

Ah, the joy that comes open-air motoring with the in your hair and the roar of the exhaust behind you. Well, maybe not as much anymore. In recent years, vehicles like the Tesla Roadster have made the concept of the electric sports car palatable. Now, Dutch automaker Carice is following suit with a classically inspired EV speedster called the MK1. The MK1 clearly wears its design inspiration on its sleeve. It would be difficult to look at this styling and not immediately see a Porsche 356 Speedster; It has the same upside-down bathtub shape with big round headlights and likely the tiniest taillights on a production car in years. The Carice is also clearly meant for fair weather motoring because there's no top, just a tonneau cover to protect the interior from the rain while it's sitting. One thing that the Dutch company is definitely getting right is the weight. It claims that the MK1 weighs a dainty 772 pounds, including the battery pack. The low weight doesn't mean the MK1 is going to be lighting quick, though. It's being offered with a choice of three electric motors with 5 horsepower (for 16-year-old drivers in the Netherlands), 20 hp or 53 hp, and there are two sizes of battery pack. Buyers can also opt for a range-extending internal combustion engine. The 53-hp motor allows for a top speed of 62 miles per hour and a 124-mile range with the larger battery. Carice says its also willing to fit larger batteries or more power motors, at the buyer's expense, of course. Carice plans to build an initial production run of 10 cars with prices starting at 22,000 euros, before Dutch taxes (about $30,000). The company hasn't released a press release about the MK1, but you can learn more about speedster on its website; it's in Dutch, though. Featured Gallery Carice MK1 View 9 Photos News Source: Carice Cars Porsche Convertible Electric Performance electric sports car porsche speedster