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2015 Porsche 911 GTS widens your rear-engined choices

"Porsche needs to offer more versions of the 911" is not a phrase you'll hear uttered often. Not with 15 versions already in the catalog. But with the opening of this year's LA Auto Show, Porsche has introduced four more to bring the total up to nineteen variants. And more are no doubt on the way. What you're looking at is the new Porsche 911 GTS, which has grown from one model in the previous generation to four. Buyers will be able to choose between rear- or all-wheel drive and between coupe and cabriolet body-styles, but either way they'll be looking at a 3.8-liter flat six with 430 horsepower. That slots it in between the base Carrera and the GT3, but unlike the hardcore latter, it can be had with choice of manual or dual-clutch transmission – bringing the available configurations of 911 GTS up to eight. Spec the DCT and you'll be reaching 60 in as little as 3.8 seconds, but the pleasure won't come cheap: prices range from $114,200 for the rear-drive coupe to $132,800 for the all-wheel-drive cabrio, plus another $995 for delivery. But for that much scratch you also get the Powerkit, Sport Chrono package, wider track, lower suspension, Xenon headlamps, Alcantara trim, 20-inch alloys and more all thrown in as standard.

Are you the 2017 Porsche 911 GTS Targa?

Our spy shooters have caught a strange, mash-up beast wearing a Porsche badge. Superficially, this is a facelift for the 911 Targa that features new bumpers, door handles and a redesigned engine cover, along with new light graphics for the front and rear lights. But have a look around back, and you'll find two inboard exhaust pipes; they aren't right up against each other as on the 911 GT3, but are spaced about five inches apart. The shooters said the first time they saw that arrangement was last winter, on a convertible during testing. We saw it again more recently in spy shots of what was thought to be the 911 GTS coupe prototype at the track. But when the production GTS arrived, it wore the traditional quad-pipe at the corners. The theory put forward by the spy photog: the current GTS has a naturally aspirated engine, but facelifted prototypes they've been seeing all have turbo engines, so this could be the facelifted Targa coming in 2017, after the 991-model 911 gets a refresh. In that case, the GTS coupe prototype at the track would have also been a post-refresh, turbo-engined GTS. It's only a hypothesis, but more than one outlet has reported that Porsche is going all-turbo for the updated 2015 models – the new exhaust position and those 911-Turbo-like vents could be their identifiers. We expect to find out when the lineup is unveiled at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, possibly codenamed 992 instead of 991.2.

Porsche designer to head Lamborghini style department

The winds of change are blowing through the front office in Sant'Agata Bolognese. Not only does Lamborghini have a new chief executive, but not it named a new chief designer as well. And he comes from Porsche. Mitja Borkert is his name, and he's been working in the Porsche design department since 1999. He headed up its advanced design office until 2014 when he was named head of exterior design for the company. The Macan, Cayenne, and the new 987 Boxster were all heavily influenced by his work, as were concepts like the Panamera Sport Turismo and Mission E. As the new director of the Centro Stile at Lamborghini, Borkert takes over from Felippo Perini, who's heading over to run Italdesign – a job that used to belong to Wolfgang Egger. The once-independent design firm was taken over by the Volkswagen Group in 2010, and recently saw its famous founder Giorgetto Giugiaro leave to start another office afresh. The shift in the design office follows hot on the heels of the announcement that longtime CEO Stephan Winkelmann is leaving for Audi's Quattro GmbH, and that former Scuderia Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is moving in to take his place on the outskirts of Bologna. Considering how different their design approaches are, it will be interesting to see how a longtime Porsche designer applies his skills to Lamborghinis. Will future Raging Bulls go softer and more rounded, or will Borkert have to pull some new tricks out from his sleeve? We'll be watching to find out. Related Video: Mitja Borkert is the new Director of Centro Stile Lamborghini Sant'Agata Bolognese, 1 March 2016 – Automobili Lamborghini has appointed Mitja Borkert as the new Director of its Centro Stile (design center), starting from 4 April 2016. In his new role Mr. Borkert is responsible for the design of future Lamborghini models and the coordination of the design team, reporting to Maurizio Reggiani, Board Member for Research and Development. He succeeds Filippo Perini, who was appointed Design Director of Italdesign. Borkert is German, aged 42, and attended the Design University of Pforzheim where he graduated in Transportation Design. In 1999, he began work at Style Porsche, in Weissach, holding various positions, including General Manager Advanced Design until 2014, when he was appointed Director of Exterior Design. He contributed to the development of several Porsche models (Panamera Sport Turismo, Porsche Boxster 987 facelift, Cayenne, Macan, Mission e).