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Porsche 911 going all-turbo this year save for GT3 and GT3 RS

The coming Porsche 911 GT3 RS will represent another high-water mark for the brand, and another milestone. Its 500-or-so horsepower and extreme aero are predicted to lop more than five seconds off the 7:20 Nurburgring lap time of the current GT3, making it "comfortably less" than 7:20. Beyond that, its naturally-aspirated 3.8-liter will form the basis of the turbocharged engines going into the standard range of 911s later this year as 2016 models. That's right – if you're looking for a sub-GT3 911 that gulps its air without compressed assistance, then you've only got a few months to get a new one into your garage. Emissions regulations are the reason, of course, with Porsche's R&D chief Wolfgang Hatz saying that, "Every new model will have lower CO2 than before," and "if you look at euro per g/km, then it's turbo." We don't know what the engine lineup will look like, however; a few months ago Car reported that the base 911 would get a smaller-displacement version of the engine, while the S would stick with 3.8-liter displacement and jump to 520 horsepower, which is the same as the current Turbo. After that, Hatz said, "at the end of the decade electrification has to be the next huge step." That means a hybrid 911 is being cooked up somewhere. Yet even as the brand leaps into the new, there's a chance it could dip a toe back into the old: the 911 GT3 RS will launch with a PDK, but Hatz's team is considering adding the option of a seven-speed manual. Elsewhere in the range, the Cayman GT4 is being engineered by Porsche Motorsport as an entry-level racer, with more power than the current Cayman GTS to go with some serious weight loss. They are also developing a track-only model for privateers. The standard Boxster and Cayman will get turbocharged flat-four engines, but there'll be a sporty Boxster that also loses weight and gets more power than the 325-hp Boxster GTS. And that mid-level supercar that's been floating in the ether for years and supposedly sent to purgatory again just last November? It's on the way by 2020 "at the latest," and will use a version of the new V8 that will eventually go into the Cayenne and Panamera. Featured Gallery 2015 Porsche 911 GT3 RS: Winter Testing Spy Shots View 13 Photos News Source: Top Gear, AutocarImage Credit: CarPix Green Porsche Emissions Convertible Coupe Hybrid Luxury Performance Supercars porsche 911 gt3 wolfgang hatz porsche supercar

Chris Harris hits the track with the Porsche Cayman GT4

The Porsche Cayman GT4 offers the first legitimate chance for Porsche's more compact coupe to really step out of the long shadow of its brother the 911. By placing the 385-horsepower Carrera S engine into the center of a Cayman and sweetening the package with a ton of truly high performance parts, the model can now really show off. The ever-enthusiastic Chris Harris puts on quite a display behind the wheel of the German brand's latest hardcore creation. As is his wont, Harris slides the GT4 all over the Portimao circuit with little wisps of smoke wafting up from its rear Michelin tires. However, what he gets really excited about is Porsche's decision to fit a real manual gearbox, rather than the PDKs rapidly taking over the company's highest performance vehicles. For anyone who loves seeing a sports car's oily bits, stay tuned all the way through because after hooning around for awhile, Harris puts the model up on a lift to find out what's so special. Porsche touts the GT4's 911 GT3-derivied front suspension, but this really shows just how many mechanical adjustments it offers the demanding driver. Related Video:

Porsche reveals new 911 Turbo Cabriolets, starting from $160,700*

Porsche has come a long way from the days when its entire model line revolved essentially around the 911, but its prototypical rear-engined sports car is still what it's known for best, and still keeps the German automaker pretty busy. With a seemingly endless array of variations on the theme, the 911s just keep on coming until a new generation arrives and then it starts all over again. And what we have here is the new king of the hill (for now, anyway).
Set to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show a little less than two months from now are the new Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolets. And no, that's not a typo: that's cabriolets, plural, because what you're looking at are two new models. First up is the 911 Turbo Cabriolet, whose 3.8-liter twin-turbo flat-six develops 520 horsepower, driving the droptop to 60 miles per hour in 3.3 seconds. That's Porsche's claim, and we have a feeling it's a bit conservative. But if that's still not enough, the 911 Turbo S Cabriolet adds an extra 40 hp for a total of 560 to drop the benchmark acceleration run down to 3.1 seconds.
That makes the new topless Turbos 30 horses stronger and 0.2 seconds quicker than the respective models they replace, but the weight penalty involved with replacing a fixed roof with a folding one (and the necessary structural reinforcement) does make the new 911 Turbo Cabs a smidgen more lethargic than their contemporary coupe counterparts, which run the gauntlet in 3.2 and 2.9 seconds in standard Turbo and upgraded Turbo S specs, respectively. They only lose a single tick on the top speed, though, which clocks in at a follicle-tickling 195 mph in either spec. Otherwise the specifications are as identical as you might expect.