2011 Porsche 911 2dr Cabriolet S Turbo on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2014 Porsche Panamera arrives with new E-Hybrid, long-wheelbase models

Porsche will officially unveil the refreshed 2014 Panamera at the Shanghai Motor Show later this month, and there's a whole lot in store for the updated model, far beyond the minimal styling tweaks you see here. Sure, there's a new fascia with more prominent LED lighting (including full LED headlamps) and the rump has been tweaked ever so slightly, but the big news for 2014 concerns what's underneath that rakish skin.
First up, Porsche will now offer a Panamera S E-Hybrid model - a plug-in hybrid that builds on the technology first introduced in the Panamera S Hybrid that we tested in 2011. For this new application, a more powerful electric motor and higher-performance battery have been fitted (official specs have not been released just yet), and Porsche says the battery can be recharged in just two and a half hours when the car is plugged in to a 240-volt outlet, and the charging (as well as other vehicle data) can be monitored via a new Porsche Car Connect app available for Android and iOS devices.
The E-Hybrid will have an all-electric driving range of "greater than 20 miles" and will be able to travel at speeds up to 84 miles per hour solely on electric power.

Can a Corvette really be compared to a 911 with options costing more than the Chevy?

In this latest video from Drive, Chris Harris asks straight away, "Can you still compare a base Corvette to a Porsche Carerra?" That's an particularly interesting question in this film, as the 911 in question is a 400-horsepower Carrera S model that's been fitted with $60,000 in options. Base price of a Corvette Stingray? $51,995. Harris' tester features an automatic and some other goodies that push it right up to that $60,000 range. So yes, the options on the Porsche cost as much as this entire 460-hp Chevrolet.
Harris stresses that this isn't a full review, but he does exercise both cars in a more composed manner before reverting to his traditionally exuberant driving style. The impressions are, as always, spot on, with Harris favoring the pointy nature and V8 power of the Stingray, while enjoying the gearbox (Porsche's exceptional PDK transmission) and just about everything else on the 911.
Take a look below for the latest video from Drive, and let us know if you agree with Mr. Harris' views on these two sports cars.

Roger Rodas' Widow Suing Porsche Over Carrera GT Crash

Investigations undertaken by local law enforcement may have vindicated Porsche from any wrongdoing in the crash that killed actor Paul Walker and racing driver Roger Rodas last year, but the latter's widow is apparently not convinced. According to emerging reports, Kristine Rodas has filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages from Porsche Cars North America. In her suit filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court, Rodas' attorney Mark Geragos reportedly disputes the findings of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which asserted that the vehicle was traveling at an unsafe speed of 90 miles per hour on city streets, identifying the speed as the cause of the accident. Instead the lawsuit claims that the vehicle was only going 55 mph and that the cause of the crash was improper equipment – namely a faulty right rear suspension and the lack of a crash cage and proper fuel tank. "The Carrera GT was unsafe for its intended use by reason of defects in its manufacture, design, testing, component and constituents, so that it would not safely serve its purpose," according to the specifics of the suit obtained by the Los Angeles Times. When reached for comment, Porsche Cars North America spokesman Nick Twork told Autoblog: We are very sorry for the Rodas and Walker family's loss. The crash was the subject of a detailed investigation by the proper authorities (L.A. County Sheriff and California Highway Patrol), and their investigation disproves the allegations in the lawsuit. The investigation found that driving at a high speed in a negligent manner caused the crash and concluded that there was no mechanical defect. The Carrera GT is known as a difficult car to drive. As the LA Times report points out, Jay Leno spun one at Talladega in 2005, and the following year, Porsche paid part of a multi-million-dollar settlement after two were killed on a track when their Carrera GT struck a slower-moving Ferrari. The Rodas lawsuit could very well point to that previous suit from San Diego Superior Court. Whether the court in LA will hand down a similar ruling remains to be seen.