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The List: Best of Scenic Drives

The List hosts Jessi Combs and Patrick McIntyre have gone on some incredible scenic drives throughout the series, including a drive through the Italian Alps, a cruise on the Pacific Coast Highway, and winding their way across the Tail of the Dragon. Here's a look back at some of our favorite moments of scenic driving. If you like what you see, stay tuned to watch the full episodes, or click here to go directly to our episode archive and pick out some of your own favorite moments of The List to revisit. The List #0100: Drive the Italian Alps The List #0567: Drive The PCH The List #0011: Drive the Tail of the Dragon Have an RSS feed? Click here to add The List. Click here to subscribe to The List in iTunes. Click here to learn more about our hosts, Jessi and Patrick. Bentley Maserati Porsche Driving Convertible The List Videos Original Video

Porsche 918 Spyder to birth stretched 2+2 version?

Porsche is known for its ability to spin off a litter of variants from a single model, and according to a report in Automobile the 918 Spyder (pictured here) might not be spared the house trick. Having taken too many brains and too much money for too much time, company chiefs are said to be examining ways to get more for their development euro out of the supercar, and Plan A is apparently otherwise known as Plan 984. That would be a four-seater, rear-wheel drive supercar that uses a stretched mold of the 918's carbon fiber tub, keeping the V8 in the same mid-mounted place and costing around 350,000 euro.
That would be less than half the MSRP of its inspiration, but the details don't sketch out a car that's just half as good. Automobile speculates it would get something like 700 horsepower in order to best the coming 911 GT2, and about 440 pound-feet of torque. The 984 is quite a ways short of being confirmed; even though a full-size study is said to exist, it's like the 918 would need to become a bigger sales hit for the 984 to happen.
The 984's fortunes don't change those of the 960, the supercoupe Porsche is building to challenge Ferrari. Its potential specs haven't changed since the last report in January, power coming from a 5.0-liter, twin-turbo, eight-cylinder boxer engine with something like 650 hp pushing a curb weight of roughly 3,100 pounds. The means a suspected 0-to-60 mile-per-hour time of 2.5 seconds.

The mid-engine Porsche backstory

As an automaker's identity evolves over years, its signature becomes defined by any number of factors - heritage (Mercedes-Benz), image (Lamborghini), or market share (Toyota). In the case of Porsche, it was an engineering quirk that forged the German company's most enduring character trait.
Porsche would not have survived - let alone, thrived - in today's saturated landscape had it not been for the 911, and that slope-tailed sports car wouldn't have sprung to life without its predecessor, the 356. While phenomenal success of those rear-engine icons built the company, forays into the mid-engine configuration have played a significant part in establishing the brand's identity.
The Mid-Engine Prototype Of Ferry Porsche's Dreams