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Ferrari 458 Speciale vs Porsche 911 GT3 shows what Chris Harris does best

After a brief trip behind a pay wall, British auto journalist Chris Harris is back posting videos for free online, and shorts like this one are the perfect example of why his return is so welcome. Showing up at the damp Anglesey Circuit on the Welsh coast with the Ferrari 458 Speciale and Porsche 911 GT3, Harris ostensibly aims to find the better model. However, the final result really succeeds in showcasing the fun to be had behind the wheels of both supercars, particularly when initiating huge slides around the track. As Harris presents it, the vehicles get through the circuit in somewhat different ways The Ferrari is brash and "feels alive," as he puts it as it screams around the track. Alternatively, the Porsche is a bit more restrained, while still being able to show some emotion. In the end, it comes down to trying to get a controlled lap around Anglesey from this duo, but it's pretty clear that the times don't tell the whole story. If you're in the mood to watch two of the world's premiere supercars wag their tails in the wet, then this video cannot be missed.

What do J.D. Power's quality ratings really measure?

Check these recently released J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) results. Do they raise any questions in your mind? Premium sports-car maker Porsche sits in first place for the third straight year, so are Porsches really the best-built cars in the U.S. market? Korean brands Kia and Hyundai are second and fourth, so are Korean vehicles suddenly better than their US, European, and Japanese competitors? Are workaday Chevrolets (seventh place) better than premium Buicks (11th), and Buicks better than luxury Cadillacs (21st), even though all are assembled in General Motors plants with the same processes and many shared parts? Are Japanese Acuras (26th) worse than German Volkswagens (24th)? And is "quality" really what it used to be (and what most perceive it to be), a measure of build excellence? Or has it evolved into much more a measure of likeability and ease of use? To properly analyze these widely watched results, we must first understand what IQS actually studies, and what the numerical scores really mean. First, as its name indicates, it's all about "initial" quality, measured by problems reported by new-vehicle owners in their first 90 days of ownership. If something breaks or falls off four months in, it doesn't count here. Second, the scores are problems per 100 vehicles, or PP100. So Power's 2015 IQS industry average of 112 PP100 translates to just 1.12 reported problems per vehicle. Third, no attempt is made to differentiate BIG problems from minor ones. Thus a transmission or engine failure counts the same as a squeaky glove box door, tricky phone pairing, inconsistent voice recognition, or anything else that annoys the owner. Traditionally, a high-quality vehicle is one that is well-bolted together. It doesn't leak, squeak, rattle, shed parts, show gaps between panels, or break down and leave you stranded. By this standard, there are very few poor-quality new vehicles in today's U.S. market. But what "quality" should not mean, is subjective likeability: ease of operation of the radio, climate controls, or seat adjusters, phone pairing, music downloading, sizes of touch pads on an infotainment screen, quickness of system response, or accuracy of voice-recognition. These are ergonomic "human factors" issues, not "quality" problems. Yet these kinds of pleasability issues are now dominating today's JDP "quality" ratings.

2014 Porsche Panamera arrives with new E-Hybrid, long-wheelbase models

Porsche will officially unveil the refreshed 2014 Panamera at the Shanghai Motor Show later this month, and there's a whole lot in store for the updated model, far beyond the minimal styling tweaks you see here. Sure, there's a new fascia with more prominent LED lighting (including full LED headlamps) and the rump has been tweaked ever so slightly, but the big news for 2014 concerns what's underneath that rakish skin.
First up, Porsche will now offer a Panamera S E-Hybrid model - a plug-in hybrid that builds on the technology first introduced in the Panamera S Hybrid that we tested in 2011. For this new application, a more powerful electric motor and higher-performance battery have been fitted (official specs have not been released just yet), and Porsche says the battery can be recharged in just two and a half hours when the car is plugged in to a 240-volt outlet, and the charging (as well as other vehicle data) can be monitored via a new Porsche Car Connect app available for Android and iOS devices.
The E-Hybrid will have an all-electric driving range of "greater than 20 miles" and will be able to travel at speeds up to 84 miles per hour solely on electric power.