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Porsche stalls on Ferrari 458 rival

A few years ago, reports surfaced that Porsche was planning a new supercar. But the latest intel suggests that the plan has been put indefinitely on the back burner.
The project alternately referred to as 960 or 988 was put forth by CEO Matthias Müller shortly after he assumed control of the German automaker. It called for a mid-engined V8 supercar to slot in between the 911 and the 918 Spyder to take on the likes of the Ferrari 458 Italia, McLaren 650S and sister-company Lamborghini's Gallardo and subsequent Huracán.
Now three years since the idea was first mooted, the vehicle has yet to materialize. According to Autocar, Porsche is putting a greater emphasis on refreshing its existing lineup. Which is probably just as well, because the mid-engined supercar would have a heck of a challenge on its hands to differentiate itself in terms of performance from the 911 GT3 and 911 Turbo, which already give the 458 and company a run for their money.

Listen to the Porsche Macan's exhaust note ahead of its LA debut

As if we need further proof that the Porsche Macan won't just be another small CUV, it'll be a small Porsche CUV, the German automaker has released a video of the vehicle's raucous exhaust note. In short, the Macan will sport a far racier soundtrack than most of its competitors.
The raspy sound coming from one of the Macan's two turbocharged V6 engines sounds great (the video isn't clear as to whether we're listening to the base 3.0-liter or the Turbo model's 3.6-liter engine), and it's accompanied by a nice crackle on overrun. It isn't like a 911 or other flat-six model, but it is more or less what we expect a Porsche to sound like. We'll have all the details on the newest member of the Porsche lineup when it debuts later this month at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show. Scroll down for an official press release from Porsche, as well as the video of the Macan, and be sure to turn your speakers up.

KBB 2013 Brand Image Awards has some obvious and oddball winners

The sixth edition of the Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards have crowned a wide range of winners - in a couple of cases the recipient of the laurels might say more about KBB users than they do about the actual winner. Compiled from the responses of more than 12,000 shoppers on KBB.com over the past year, there are 13 categories broken into non-luxury, luxury and truck segments "representing the combined wisdom of the American car-buying public."
The award categories have been revamped this year, with some dropping off, some new ones appearing and at least one other given a new term. What isn't surprising is that Honda won Most Trusted Brand for the second year running, Best Value Brand for the third year in a row and took Best Overall Brand, which wasn't on last year's list of awards.
On our own shores, in the non-luxury categories Chrysler got Most Refined Brand and Buick took Best Value Luxury Brand. Neither one of those marques won anything in last year's Brand Image Awards, while Cadillac, which won Best Interior Design Brand and Best Comfort Brand last year - those awards disappeared this year - went home without a single accolade.