The Ultimate 911! on 2040-cars

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Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R named Road & Track Performance Car of the Year

With a 526-horsepower, 5.2-liter V8 that roars to 8,250 rpm, it's really hard to consider the 2016 Ford Shelby Mustang GT350R an underdog in any fight. However, the Shelby held the lowest as-tested price and was only middle of the pack in terms of power in Road & Track's 2016 Performance Car of the Year challenge. The 'Stang's numbers clearly didn't tell the whole story about the potent coupe because Ford's muscle car grabbed the title in this year's test. A model needs to be new or significantly updated to be eligible for the honor, and R&T found an impressive slate of eight candidates this year. The challengers included the Bentley Continental GT3-R, Cadillac ATS-V Coupe, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper ACR, Mercedes-AMG GT S, and Porsche Cayman GT4. The Ferrari 488 GTB was the most expensive of the bunch with an as-tested price of $347,942, which is five times more than the Shelby. Once the group was together, R&T hustled them over curving roads and on the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park. There was a lot to love about the Shelby, even in this impressive crew. "With a flat-plane crank and Sport Cup 2 tires, the GT350R is a Mustang turned up to 11," editor-in-chief Larry Webster said in the announcement of the results. The GT350R joins some great company. Past winners include the Porsche 911 GT3 last year and the Corvette in 2013. For some fantastic photography and the complete appraisal of these performance machines check out R&T's website for the full story. Related Video: ROAD & TRACK NAMES THE FORD MUSTANG SHELBY GT350R THE 2016 PERFORMANCE CAR OF THE YEAR New York, NY (November 9, 2015) – Road & Track today named the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R the 2016 Performance Car of the Year, beating out seven of the world's best new sports cars. The article appears in the December/January issue, on newsstands November 17, and on RoadandTrack.com. "With a flat-plane crank and Sport Cup 2 tires, the GT350R is a Mustang turned up to 11," said Larry Webster, editor-in-chief of Road & Track. "Not only does the car have soul and harness so much firepower with such ease, but the real achievement here is that it's so approachable. It's a car you can't help but love." The Mustang Shelby GT350R was the winner by a runaway vote.

Porsche 911 Targa 4S special makes us want to go Dutch

There's a long list of things that make us love the Netherlands, and not all of them involve activities that would be illegal in most of the United States. Like this latest special edition Porsche 911, for example. Unveiled at AutoRAI 2015 – Holland's premier car show that opened last week – the Porsche 911 Targa 4S Exclusive Edition celebrates the 50th anniversary of Zuffenhausen's iconic partial convertible. It's decked out in Gulf blue, but instead of contrasting with bright orange, nearly everything else on this special Elfen is blacked out: The 20-inch Fuchs-style alloys, the throwback quarter-panel racing stripes, the LED headlight frames... everything but the signature Targa roof bar, which keeps its brushed metal finish. The interior is rather more subdued than you'd find on most special editions, with throwback houndstooth fabric seats and silver stitching. Power comes from the 3.8-liter boxer-six driving 400 horses to all four wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The Sport Chrono Package Plus, a sports exhaust, adaptive suspension and Bose audio system are all fitted as standard. Options include carbon-ceramic brakes, a seven-speed manual transmission and a 30-horse Powerkit. As the name suggests, though, this is a rather exclusive edition indeed. All fifteen examples will be made available exclusively in the Netherlands, priced from ˆ223,230 with the PDK or ˆ229,500 with the manual. That's more than you'd pay for a 911 Turbo Cabrio in the same country, and works out to more than $240k at today's conversion rates. Related Video: Speciaal voor Nederland: Porsche 911 Targa 4S Exclusive Edition - Zeer exclusief uitgevoerde 911 Targa 4S in Gulfblauw - 15 exemplaren om 50 jaar 911 Targa te vieren - Debuut op de AutoRAI Leusden, 16 april 2015 – Porsche Nederland presenteert op de AutoRAI 2015 de 911 Targa 4S Exclusive Edition. Dit model wordt in een oplage van 15 exemplaren door Porsche Exclusive geproduceerd om '50 jaar Targa' te vieren. Alle modellen zijn uitgevoerd in het herkenbare Gulfblauw met accenten in hoogglans zwart en lichtmetalen wielen in het klassieke 'Fuchs-design'. Elke 911 Targa 4S Exclusive Edition wordt geleverd met een fotoboek van de auto en het productieproces. Aansluitend aan de AutoRAI start de levering. De 911 Targa 4S Exclusive Edition is er vanaf ˆ 223.230. De 911 Targa 4S Exclusive Edition is speciaal voor de Nederlandse markt ontwikkeld ter ere van 50 jaar Targa.

Porsche Cayenne spied unconstrained by camouflage

Meet the facelifted Porsche Cayenne. Our eagle-eyed spy shooters captured this example of Porsche's freshened SUV virtually devoid of camo, giving us our clearest look yet at what the eventual mid-cycle work will do to the strong-selling Cayenne.
The overall changes do, indeed, look minor, with a reprofiled intake being the most obvious item. The headlights are still covered, so we don't know what kind of jeweling has been done, but the shape does appear identical to the current model. Overall, the changes appear totally in line with a mid-cycle refresh.
As we explained previously, a plug-in Cayenne is on the way. It will join a crop of engines that is likely to be similar to what's on offer today, with naturally aspirated, turbocharged, hybrid and diesel variants released over time.