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What's the deal with comedians and their cars?

'Round about the time in his life when it should happen for all of us, Jerry Seinfeld's ship came in with a force that almost split the dock. He'd been doing pretty well with his observational style ("There's a cereal now that's just cookies. Have you seen this? Cookies for breakfast. It's called Cookie Crisp. Cookies for breakfast! They oughta just call it 'To Hell With Everything!'"). But he showed no signs of setting the world on fire until he got cast in a show that was either about – depending on the level of comedy geek you ask – the average New Yorker, the very worst people in the world, or nothing. Suddenly Jerry Seinfeld was pretty much the center of the comedy universe. And while his comedy was at once both brilliantly innovative and rooted in the mundane, his next move was a predictable grab at something exotic – he went out and bought his dream car. A rather nice 911, actually. As almost everyone knows, it didn't stop there, and the man put together one of the most enviable collections of iconic Porsches we're likely to see. So what's the connection, if there is one, between cars and comedy? As far as Jerry Seinfeld (the man) is concerned, he's probably not the same guy as the Jerry on Seinfeld (the show) although it's hard to say for sure; his public persona is almost unnervingly well managed. But cars and comedy were the constants in his life then, and, well, just look at what the guy does now; Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is a cultural constant, and we're certainly seeing Seinfeld the man in that one, and cars are obviously still central to his life. And it's been that way with a lot of very, very good comedy guys. Cars seem to round out their lives, to become the yin to their comedy yang. Ernie Kovacs might not have invented visual gags or surreal humor, but he got them both to kill on television in the 1950s, so he's a comedy hero. He died behind the wheel of his beloved Corvair wagon, so he's absolutely some kind of car-guy hero as well. Bill Cosby, the hottest name in comedy for a good long while, had Ferraris, one of two fire-breathing supercharged big-block Cobras (pictured below), and a BMW 2002tii – none of which either contributed to or in any way make up for the profoundly sociopathic creature he turned out to be, but it's still a data point. The Smothers Brothers, who defied the networks and the norms by getting blatantly political before that sort of thing was cool, went sports car racing.

2015 Porsche Cayenne S Quick Spin

There are sporty SUVs, but until the Macan came along, the Porsche Cayenne was arguably the only pure definition of a 'sports SUV, a la sports car. The second-generation Cayenne is now five years old, but still looks fresh. It's handsome without obvious effort, especially with the optional 21-inch 911 Turbo wheels. The Cayenne S replaces the old, 400-horsepower, 4.8-liter V8 with the brand-new, Porsche-developed 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6. This engine is quickly proliferating through the range – it powers the current Panamera S and the Macan Turbo. That former 4.8-liter started life as a 4.5-liter with 350 horsepower way back in 2002, specifically developed for the Cayenne, and to the end it remained a potent engine. We tried the new forced-induction V6 with 420 hp earlier this year in the Panamera S, and other than a soggy exhaust note it maintained the character of the former V8 sport sedan, with lusty power and hasty delivery. So, how's it do in the Cayenne? Driving Notes The Cayenne S version of the TT V6 gets 420 hp and 406 pound-feet of torque. That means there's 37 more lb-ft than the previous V8, and 22 more lb-ft than in the new Panamera S. Yet the 607-pound difference in curb weight between the Panamera and Cayenne means the V6 has a heavier load to lift here. And it shows – the instant response is dulled. Stomping the right foot gets the eight-speed transmission rappelling through gears to provide a little kick, but real gumption doesn't come until the turbos kick in. We're maybe talking about a second of pause compared to the Panamera, but a noticeable second. Perhaps a small price to pay for slightly better fuel economy, if you really care about such in your 420-hp SUV. Part of why we notice that second is that the Cayenne S is so right-now everywhere else that any perceived hesitation gets extra attention. It offers a specific adjustability that many sports cars don't have, with one button adjusting the three-mode air suspension and a separate Sport button tweaking the steering, throttle, gear changes, and traction control. With Sport keeping all the horses at the ready and the optional Porsche Torque Vectoring holding things steady, you don't need to step up to the GTS trim to get immediate acceleration, crisp steering, flat cornering at very un-SUV-like speeds, and tremendous stopping power from a total of 20 brake pistons. That said, the exhaust note here could also use a shot of Bruce Banner's gamma rays.

All Porsche 911s to get turbos in 2015?

Currently, Porsche builds two turbocharged 911s - the Turbo and the Turbo S (and their cabriolet counterparts). The rest of the 911 range, meanwhile, is motivated by either 3.4- or 3.8-liter flat-sixes of varying outputs. This clear separation could be set to change in the very near future, though, as rumors continue to swirl that Porsche's rear-engined range could switch exclusively to turbocharged power.
This time, it's Car projecting that the 911 range will go turbocharged as part of a mid-cycle refresh, with the base Carrera's 3.4-liter dropping to 2.9 liters and adding an iron lung, bumping the entry level 911 up to 400 horsepower. Yes, a 400-horsepower, entry level 911. The Carrera S, meanwhile, will retain its 3.8-liter engine, but will also benefit from turbocharging, increasing output to 530 horsepower and 520 pound-feet of torque. So basically, it sounds like the current, 520-hp 911 Turbo will become the next Carrera S.
What does that mean for Porsche's traditional high-performance models? Well, it's a safe bet that the Turbo, Turbo S and eventual GT2 will be producing seriously huge power figures. Based on pure speculation, we wouldn't be shocked to see a 600-hp Turbo, with the S and GT2 increasing output markedly from there.