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Chris Harris pits Aston GT12 vs 911 GT3 RS vs McLaren 650S

The Geneva Motor Show is never lacking in exciting performance machinery. And this year was no exception. Our eyes, like those of Chris Harris, were drawn by two hardcore, track-focused versions of existing sports cars. Both wore the name GT3, and now Harris has brought them together for a supercar shootout. And he's thrown one more in for good measure. Those natural rivals are the Aston Martin Vantage GT12 and Porsche 911 GT3 RS, the latter manufacturer having pressed the former to drop the GT3 name to which it claims exclusive domain. There's a great deal that separates them, of course: one's got a V12 up front, the other a flat-six way in the back. But what binds them together is a common approach of taking an existing model, stripping it down, and tightening everything up to make it more of a weapon than a grand tourer. What that means in the Aston's case is a rather high price tag, much higher than that of the Porsche. But scarce demand and speculation on the open market have left British customers, at least, paying as much for the GT3 RS as for the limited-edition Aston. And that takes both into proper supercar territory. So to show what else that kind of money can get you, Monkey has brought along a McLaren. Not the similarly track-focused 675LT, but the standard 650S... Spider, no less, and with worn hard rubber. So which one performs best on the road? Which clocks the fastest lap time on the track? And which gets Harris' vote? You'll have to watch the video for yourself to find out, but it's well worth the 25 minutes of your lunch break. News Source: Chris Harris on Cars via YouTube Aston Martin McLaren Porsche Videos porsche 911 gt3 chris harris mclaren 650s

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.

2014 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet spotted testing in the nude

The Porsche 911 wouldn't be the Porsche 911 unless there were twenty-something different models to choose from (note: we are not complaining), and the latest one was just spied by our trusty photographers out on Germany's Nürburgring. Feast your eyes on the 911 Turbo Cabriolet - the droptop version of the new Turbo wonder that debuted in May - looking all sorts of stealth in its black-on-black-on-black prototype scheme.
Mechanically, the 911 Turbo Cab should be identical to the fixed-roof version, meaning a twin-turbo 3.8-liter flat-six engine will live in the car's rump, putting out something like 520 horsepower. Of course, there's also the hotter Turbo S version of the coupe, and we expect that to get the droptop treatment, as well, with 560 horsepower on tap. The added weight of the folding top and additional structural supports will likely make for slightly slower 0-60 times for both cars, though considering the base Turbo will hit 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds, "slower" is a very relative term indeed. All that force will run to the ground via all-wheel drive, managed by Porsche's seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission.
The wide stance of the 911 Turbo Coupe carries over to the Cabriolet, no doubt fitted with the same (standard) 20-inch wheels. Inside, the usual luxury amenities will be on hand, along with nearly endless customization options.