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Porsche Macan fails moose test, Stuttgart responds

Different countries have different safety standards, but most of them revolve around a similar set of tests: front impact, side impact, offset impact, rollover... the usual. But Sweden has its own test. It's called the Moose Test (or the Elk Test), and it's unique to Scandinavia: a car has to be able to avoid a theoretical antlered mammal on the road while traveling at 43.5 miles per hour and return to its previous course without flipping over. The Jeep Grand Cherokee ran afoul of the uniquely Nordic maneuver a couple of years ago, but even more surprising is the way the Porsche Macan has reacted.
Under testing by Sweden's Teknikens Värld, Porsche's downsized crossover - specifically the Macan S Diesel, for what it's worth - didn't flip over, but it skidded off course. In real-world conditions, it follows, the vehicle could run off the road or into oncoming traffic. The testers ran the test several times, and even removed excess weight from the vehicle, and each time it reacted the same way.
In response, Porsche has explained that the behavior is the result of its Active Rollover Protection system kicking in. When the system detects that the vehicle could drastically oversteer, flip over or lose its tire, it momentarily applies the brake on the front outside wheel, allowing the vehicle to shed the cornering forces without losing it completely.

Fastest cars in the world by top speed, 0-60 and quarter mile

A claim for the title of “Fastest Car in the World” might seem easy to settle. ItÂ’s actually anything but: Are we talking production cars, race cars or customized monsters? And what does “fastest” even mean? For years, car publications have tended to define “fastest” in terms of an unbeatable top speed. ThatÂ’s distinct from the “quickest” car in a Usain Bolt-style dash from the starting blocks, as with the familiar 0-60 mph metric. Professionals often focus on track lap times or elapsed time-to-distance, as with a drag racer thatÂ’s first to trip the beam of light at the end of a quarter-mile; or the 1,000-foot trip of nitromethane-powered NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car dragsters. Something tells us, however, that you're not seeking out an answer of "Brittany Force rewriting the NHRA record books with a 3.659-second pass at a boggling 338.17 mph." For most barroom speed arguments, the focus is firmly on cars you can buy in showrooms, even if many are beyond the financial means of all but the wealthiest buyers and collectors. Here are some of the enduring sources of speed claims, counter-claims, tall tales and taunting dismissals that are the lifeblood of car enthusiasts – now with EVs adding an unexpected twist to these passionate pursuits.   Fastest from the blocks: 0-60 mph Thirty years ago, any car that could clock 60 mph in five seconds or less was considered extremely quick. Today, high-performance, gasoline-powered sedans and SUVs are routinely breaking below 4 seconds. As of today, the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 crushes all with a 0-60 mph time of just 1.66 seconds. That's simply absurd, but keep in mind the Demon was engineered with the single-minded purpose of going fast in a straight line. It's also important to realize that direct comparisons are difficult, because not all of these times were accomplished with similar conditions (prepped surfaces, adjustments for elevation and so on). The moral here is to take these times with a tiny grain of salt. After the Dodge, the Rimac Nevera comes in with an officially recorded 0-60 mph time of just 1.74 seconds. EVs crowd the quickest list, with the Pininfarina Battista coming in a few hundredths slower (1.79 seconds) than the Nevera and the Lucid Air sapphire (1.89 seconds) right after that. Eventually, you arrive to the Tesla Model S Plaid, which has a claimed 1.99-second 0-60 mph time, though instrumented testing by Car and Driver shows it accomplishes the deed in 2.1 seconds.

1986 Porsche 959 Prototype at Barrett-Jackson sees gavel fall at $440,000 [UPDATE: w/video]

Fans of Porsche in America have longed for the chance to buy a 959 ever since the German automaker produced and sold it (well, sold it everywhere but the United States...) in the 1980s. Well, they just had their chance. The car you see above is a Porsche 959 prototype built in 1986, and only one other running prototype still exists.
The 959 prototype can't be driven on public roads, as it carries no such certification. Somehow, we doubt that matters all that much to the new buyer - this one is probably going to be sitting in a collection. When the gavel finally fell, bidding had reached $400,000, plus a 10-percent buyer's fee.
Check out our high-res image gallery above to see this prototype up close, and scroll down below to watch a video of it crossing the auction block and for its official auction description.