Porsche

Without any delay, this is one of the coolest concept cars I have seen in my entire life. It looks incredible, its technology is incredible, its performance makes me feel tingly and the best part is I can tell that cute brunette at yoga class, “When it comes down to it I put the earth first, so I bought a hybrid.” At the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Porsche brought out what is probably the most exciting concept in years: the Porsche 918 Spyder Concept.

By designing this car, Porsche has essentially answered a request of mine, to show the world that the word “hybrid” is not synonymous with word “coma.” I'm so grateful to see something like this, I feel I owe them a thank you card.

Seeing the unveiling of the new 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, has me looking at hybrid technology in a new and much more positive way. I believe hybrids are good for the planet, and spending less money on gas - usually used for mundane errands - is a good thing. But the current hybrids available are boring. Well I'm happy to report that this is not your art teacher's Prius. And of course it's not, it's a GT3 race car built by Porsche, which will be competing in the upcoming 24 Hours of Nurburgring.

Like the developing F1 systems, it has regenerative braking, and the extra electric power (up to 120kW) can be used in 6-8 second bursts. What's new about this system is that instead of carrying heavy batteries, it has a generator that rides shotgun to the driver. The energy is sent from the flywheel to the motor and saved as potential energy. Two electic motors then deliver power to the front axles.

The top dog is back after a 5 year hiatus. Sliding in at the top of the model lineup, the 2011 Porsche 911 Turbo S will up the ante for the entire 997 platform. Any time you see an S at the end of the name for a Porsche model it's a beautiful thing, and even more so when the word Turbo is planted just before.

The twin-turbo flat-six engine gets amped up to 530 hp with 516 ft-lb of torque, and through a bit of automative wizardry, maintains the same fuel economy as the 500-horsepower base model Turbo. Power is delivered to all four wheels via a seven-speed PDF dual clutch gearbox with a torque vectoring system making sure all that might is actually wielded as the driver sees fit.

It was inevitable that the aftermarket tuners would swarm around the new Porsche Panamera like sharks waiting to consume their prey. The packages that have resulted have spanned the gamut from rocket ships like the Lumma Design CLR-700GT to slightly more subtle creations like the 9ff Panamera PT-65 Turbo and Gemballa Mistrale. TechArt is often the most subtle of the usual suspects and their Porsche Panamera debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show took the middle road with a styling package aimed at the discriminating consumer.

Now, TechArt has release some new pictures and details on their official Individualization Program for the Porsche Panamera. The body kit (Aerokit I) includes a new front fascia with integrated daytime running lights, front spoiler, side sills, rear diffuser and fixed rear wing. The super sedan rides on 21-inch Formula or 22-inch Formula II light alloy wheels.

The Porsche 997 has turned into the platform of choice for tuners looking to transform mere sports cars into tire vaporizing hypercars capable of rivaling stalwarts like the Bugatti Veyron and Koenigsegg CCX. Maybe it's the bullet-proof engine or the inherent aerodynamic efficiencies, but a host of German and domestic mod shops have been cranking out some amazing performance from this platform. Ruf, Gemballa and Switzer all have proven packages with stratospheric specs, but 9ff has time and time again brought some game-changing fighters to the Porsche wars.

The company's latest offering, the 9ff GTurbo is based on the Porsche 911 GT3 or the hardcore GT3 RS and offers 3 level of performance - 750 hp, 850 hp or a whopping 1,000 hp. With this much additional power being delivered, 9ff has crafted a special aero kit which includes a new front apron with LED indicators, side skirts and a rear apron (with variations for the center mounted GT3 and GT3RS and a left/right configuration for the other 997s). Special vents in the rear fenders deliver air to the intercooler while outlets in the front fender reduce wheel well pressure at speed.

Any way you look at it the TechArt GT Street RS is a pure shot of adrenaline. Based on the already stellar Porsche 911 GT2, the German tuning house managed to coax out an additional 160 horsepower and 130 ft-lb of torque over stock for a total output of 690 horsepower and 634 ft-lb of torque.

AutoBild recently ran a test comparing TechArt models to other supercars and the results were quite surprising. The reigning Tuning Grand Prix champ ran the 3,671 meter circuit in 1:31:94, besting the previous track record, held by the Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce, by 4.47 seconds.

2009 was a tough year for the auto industry to say the least. Not only did we witness massive government bailouts, epic bankruptcies and a precipitous plummet in sales, but over 1,500 dealerships shuttered their doors. When I was back in my hometown of Cleveland, OH over the holidays, I notice at least 6 large dealerships throughout the city that had closed up shop, with all of the remaining ones seemingly relegated to the ubiquitous "Auto Mile" of car lots mostly owned by large conglomerates. A sad state indeed.

Current estimates peg the total number of new cars purchased last year at just around 10.5 million, which is about 7 million shy of the high reached in 2000 and 2 million below sales in China (yes, we're no longer numero uno). The Cars Allowance Rebate System (CARS) program, aka Cash for Clunkers, dolled out $2.8 billion in $3,500 - $4,500 rebates and supposedly resulted in 700,000 new car sales.  According to several leading analysts, this was just enough to keep the industry on life support while everyone scrambled to figure out how to infuse more cash into daily operations. Even though many hailed the program as a success, it had its detractors as well, and for good reason. Edmunds concluded that really only an additional 125,000 cars were sold that wouldn't have sold otherwise, resulting in a taxpayer burden of $24,000 per vehicle.

The number of insanely-fast, custom-tuned Porsche supercars this year has been as numerous as the drops in a rainstorm. Every month either the top companies put out an updated model or a new challenger steps into the ring. Each time the cars get a little better looking, a little bit faster, and a little more expensive. One of biggest names this year has been 9ff, offering custom versions of nearly every Porsche model.

While its cool when a shop adds 50hp to a Cayman S, it's like watching fly-weight boxing. Sure they're nimble, and hit fairly hard, but it just tides you over until the next Tyson fight. For tuners, the thrill happens when they create that “let's see what you can really do” model. This is 9ff's, the TR-1000. Oh, did I mention it goes 243mph (392km/h)? (See the videos after the jump.)