11 Panamera Turbo $154k Msrp Sport Chrono Exhaust Wheels on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Editors' Choice: Top Five 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show Debuts

Consider the 2015-16 auto show season officially kicked off. The Frankfurt Motor Show offered a great look at the newest crop of production cars and conceptual machines, and brought some old favorites back into the spotlight for a closer look. (The Alfa Romeo Giulia, for example, debuted in June, but this was the first time most of us saw it.) Now that the dust has settled and we're all on flights back to the US, our editors cast their votes for their personal favorites from the Frankfurt show. These are the cars we truly loved seeing the most. But unlike other shows, there was no one runaway winner – all of the Top Five received positive praise from our team. We won't spoil the results, though. Scroll down to see what we liked most from this year's Frankfurt expo. 5th Place – MERCEDES-BENZ IAA CONCEPT View 12 Photos MIKE AUSTIN: The clean lines on this concept have me excited for a more elegant beauty to future Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Next to the Concept IAA, the lovely S-Class Coupe looks like an overstyled barge. DAVID GLUCKMAN: Yeah, the extendable rear is neat and all, but I'm more interested in the front-end styling of this one. It looks like the Tron version of a 300SL, in a good way. I'm hopeful it portends the future of Mercedes design. STEVEN EWING: I was super impressed when Mercedes said that, with the rear end extended, this concept has a drag coefficient of just 0.19. That's crazy aerodynamic. I'm not head-over-heels about the styling, but I think the lessons learned from this concept are really important, and will play a huge role in the future of Mercedes' products. 4th Place – ALFA ROMEO GIULIA View 15 Photos SEYTH MIERSMA: I can hardly express how in love with this car I am. The styling feels creative, modern, and evocative, without going over the top. The proposed performance is spectacular. And the Alfa badge speaks to a legacy of romantic motoring. DAVID GLUCKMAN: Pretty Italian car makes big promises and will probably deliver on about three quarters of them. I think that will still be enough for me. JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I'm really intrigued by the Giulia. It looks great, sounds awesome, and I'm expecting it to have a load more character than its German rivals. I hope I'm not disappointed. 3rd Place – JAGUAR F-PACE View 15 Photos GREG MIGLIORE: It's the first SUV for Jaguar, and I think they nailed the design, capability, and electronics. It's the right car at the right time.

Porsche gives GT3 owners extra year of warranty, new engines in production April 22

While the auto industry reels from massive recall after massive recall, Porsche has quietly been working on a fix for an issue that's forced owners of the new 911 GT3 to park their track-ready rockets for fear of an engine fire. Thanks to a leaked letter from Porsche to a GT3 owner (which has been certified as real), we now have an idea of just where the German brand is at with the fix.
On April 22, Porsche will begin production of a new batch of GT3 engines for the 785 affected models across the globe. As you'll recall, the original issue rested with a screw joint that could loosen the connecting rod. The new engines have an "optimized piston rod screw connection," that should keep the connecting rod in place. Once technical validations are completed, production will kick off and new powerplants will be shipped around the globe for owners of the troubled cars.
Porsche will hand out a certificate to owners of affected cars once repairs have been completed, as a means of documenting the work. To make up for the trouble, Porsche will be giving owners an extra year on their new-vehicle warranty, while the 911 GT3 concierge will be reaching out to compensate them for having to park their car for so long.

Porsche (finally) unleashes full, official details on 918 Spyder

Porsche has finally let released all of the details on the 918 Spyder, the German brand's challenger to the McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari, after months of leading our poor, performance-loving hearts on. The covers were lifted at the Volkswagen Group night, an enormous precursor to the Frankfurt Motor Show, and include a massive, 11,000-word press release that's attached at the bottom of this page.
The 918 Spyder features a mid-mounted, dry-sump-lubricated, 4.6-liter V8 engine that generates 608 horsepower when left to its own devices. Combined with a trio of electric motors, which produce 286 hp, the total system horsepower for the 918 Spyder rests at 887 ponies. That's less than the McLaren P1 (903 hp) and the LaFerrari (949 hp), but the Porsche is also likely to be a bit cheaper, starting at $845,000, while the McLaren will be in the seven-figure range for certain, and it will more than likely be joined by the LaFezza.
The 918 Spyder counters with a 2.8-second jog to 62, a 7.7-second run to 124 and it will hit 186 in 22 seconds.