Auto blog

Porsche calls in The Committee for Boxster and Cayman GTS

Porsche is set to offer up the very first GTS variants of its more affordable Boxster convertibles and Cayman coupes. This is very good news for enthusiasts. Aside from our original post announcing the hotted up models, though, Porsche hasn't given us much to go on.
And you know what? This video isn't much of help either. It's called The Committee, and we're guessing it's meant to highlight the lengths that Porsche went to in designing what are essentially sportier trim levels for its two most affordable entries. Still, it's a stylized and entertaining video with a few entertaining driving scenes scattered throughout, and it gives just a small glimpse of Porsche's view of the vaunted GTS badge.
Take a look below for the full video.

Mark Webber gets early clearance for Porsche departure

If there's no rest for the wicked, there's surely even less rest for the wickedly fast. And make no mistake about it, Mark Webber is wickedly fast. He may not have proven able (or given the opportunity, depending on who you ask) to emerge from Sebastian Vettel's shadow after six seasons partnered with the multiple world champion at Red Bull Racing, but he's still won nine Formula One grands prix, to say nothing of the sports car races he won with Mercedes in the late 90s. But now he's leaving F1 to anchor Porsche's new LMP1 program, and according to the latest reports, he's departing Red Bull for Porsche sooner than expected.
Typically an F1 driver is obliged to stay with his team until the end of the calendar year - not just the end of the racing season - helping out with things like promotional events and fine-tuning next year's car. But news.com.au reports that Red Bull has given him early leave, so once the racing action in Brazil is done on Sunday, he's departing straight for Porsche's racing headquarters in Wiessach, Germany.
It won't be Webber's first visit to the facility, having already swung by to have his new seat fitted. But his early arrival will undoubtedly help him and Porsche get up and running ahead of schedule. The move may have been facilitated by a new sponsorship deal that could see Webber carry Red Bull with him to Le Mans, so don't be too surprised to see the energy drink company's logo on the side of the new Porsche once the new racing season gets under way next year, whether in concert with or instead of the anticipated revival of the Martini Racing livery.

2014 Porsche Cayman S

Second Fiddle Moves To First Chair
In the interest of full disclosure and a bit of bloodletting, allow me to admit that while I've always coveted the Porsche Boxster and its hard-hatted Cayman cousin, I've never really warmed to them visually. They've always had a certain push-me, pull-you, can't-decide-which-way-they're-going aesthetic that I've never really wrapped my head around. Porsche achieved the same thing with the original 550 Spyder's overturned bathtub bodyshell that would come to inspire the Boxster, but somehow that classic's even more symmetrical nature works for me. Fast-forward to this third generation, and at least for this enthusiast, Porsche's manchild has well and truly come of age as a design.
It's all there - a piercing stare thanks to squircle headlamps inspired by the 918 Spyder hypercar, newfound directional thrust afforded by a longer wheelbase and elongated greenhouse, and muscular rear haunches with a wider stance emphasized by larger side ductwork and snubbed overhangs. The body's teardrop shape terminates with an active spoiler that integrates into a gorgeous arc with the taillamps like a budding ducktail nod to 1973 911 Carrera RS. Despite casting a longer shadow than its predecessor, the 2014 Cayman still looks tidily proportioned, smooth and wieldy, the perfect skipping stone to ricochet down a canyon river road.