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Lightspeed Classic 911 rocks out with its sprockets out

Singer does a pretty damn good job re-imagining the Porsche 911, but the faithful will aptly tell you that it's not the only name in the business. Munich-based Autoaktiv Motorsport also does a pretty compelling rendition of the classic German sports car. It's called the Lightspeed Classic, and this video clip casts it in light as good as we've ever seen. The brainchild of former Porsche engineer Ralf Skatulla, the Lightspeed Classic is based on the 964 but upgrades some key components while keeping the classic style. Power comes from a 3.8-liter flat-six from the 964 RS (albeit rebuilt with titanium components) that's been retuned to deliver 340 horsepower. It's got the gearbox from a 996 Turbo, the clutch from a 997 GT3 RS, and the brakes from a 996 GT3 Cup, along with Michelin Pilot Sport rubber coating a set of Fuchs-style BBS alloys. The result, as you can see, is lovely. Especially with Tim Schrick behind the wheel. The German racing driver is also a television personality, co-hosting D Motor – Germany's equivalent to Top Gear – alongside Sabine Schmitz and Carsten van Ryssen. Which is all well and fine, but what you really want to do is scope out the footage for yourself. If you dig Porsches (or even if you don't), it'll probably be the best 49 seconds you'll spend all day. Related Video:

Proof the Porsche 911 GT3 may get a manual transmission again

Porsche left fans of the manual shifter out in the cold when it launched the previous 911 GT3 solely with the PDK dual-clutch transmission. Porsche continued the trend with the GT3 RS. Now, it looks like past rumors were true, and Porsche may be looking to make amends with its neglected fans. Our spy photographers caught what appears to be the updated GT3 in the wild. The exterior is exposed and shows the typical track-oriented 911 fare: low chin spoiler, large rear wing, wide rear wheels and tires. Inside, it seems engineers have taken great care to hide the shifter. Somewhere under that big cone of foam lies the gear selector. Our spy photographers also note that the steering wheel lacks any sort of shift paddles and the gauge cluster doesn't have a shift indicator. If we could see how many pedals this 911 was packing, we could pretty much close the book on what transmission this car has, but we can't see them from the photos. This still seems like promising evidence that future GT3 owners will have the option to shift for themselves. Also, if our spy photographers are right, those owners will also be enjoying the same 500-horsepower flat-six of the 911 R and current GT3 RS. Related Video:

Porsche inspecting 2,500 Euro-spec Macans for damaged brake boosters

Porsche is investigating a potential brake issue with 2,500 of its new Macan CUVs. The inspection focuses on the state of the brake systems following tests that discovered the brake boosters may have been damaged during assembly.
Porsche has pointed out that, despite the concern, the affected Macans still meet safety regulations. The issue is predominantly found in European-spec Macans, which according to Porsche, have been delivered to consumers. Owners of affected vehicles in Europe will be notified and asked to come in for a brief, no-cost inspection.
American consumers, though, have no reason to worry. We reached out to Porsche Cars North America, who confirmed that the vehicles in question were assembled before US-spec cars were screwed together.