Porsche 911 2005 News

That's the bottom line on the 911 Turbo S convertible, which will be unveiled next month at the Geneva Motor Show before local sales in September.The force-fed droptop, which also comes as a coupe for $423,300, has had a major power boost from the 'regular' 911 Turbo's 368 kiloWatts to a full-house 390 - with 700 Newton-metres of torque.Porsche says the extra punch drops the 0-100km/h sprint time to 3.3 seconds and lifts the top speed to 315km/h.  The Turbo S comes standard with Porsche's Sport Chrono package, including launch control, as well as paddles to shift the PDK seven-speed, dual-clutch gearbox.It's the first new Turbo S model from Porsche in five years and comes with traction management, all-wheel-drive and a mechanical rear differential lock.Porsche says it has also improved efficiency with fuel economy of 11.4 litres/100km, no more than the regular 911 Turbo.

Only about five Porsche 911 Sport Classics — a hand-built, bespoke celebration of the 911's 40-year history — will come to Australia from a fixed global production run of just 250. So exclusive is the car that Porsche Australia spokesman Paul Ellis doesn't know the final price and has yet to take any orders. "But we know we'll sell what we can get," he says. "This is a very exclusive car that is basically hand built. It even has a woven leather interior as well as the very best components from Porsche." The Porsche 911 Sport Classic revives the aura of one of its most outstanding models, the 1973 Carrera RS 2.7. It's taken Porsche three years to develop this car and yet it will make only 250 units. To be shown at next week's Frankfurt Motor Show, the Sport Classic has been developed by the company's specialist department, Porsche Exclusive. Reflecting the Carrera's design is the Sport Classic's ducktail rear spoiler and the Fuchs-style design of the special custom-made alloy wheels. The distinctive double-dome roof is borrowed from the style of the 911 Panamericana show car and in the roofline of the Carrera GT. The coupe is further defined by its more powerful engine, unique exterior with reshaped front and rear styling, a new centre section in the roof, new side sills and new shape of front and rear lights. Porsche says that every car in this limited series comes in an exclusive paint colour called Sport Classic Grey with subtle dark trim strips. The interior is finished in Espresso Nature and is claimed to go further than the current customising portfolio available on the other 911 models. Power comes from a worked version of the 3.8-litre flat-six engine that now delivers 300kW. The engine has a unique six-butterfly intake manifold. The Sport Classic has a six-speed manual transmission and sprints to 100km/h from rest in 4.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 302km/h. Fuel consumption, for those who care, is claimed to average 10.6 litres/100km. While the limited edition 911 Sport Classic is based on the 911 Carrera S, it has aluminium doors and features the rear bodywork of the all-wheel drive models — meaning it is 44mm wider and has a rear track extended by 34mm.  

You can have them all for a fraction of the price.P1 is a multi-million dollar version of a car-rental company but you need to be quick if you want to be a part of the action.Less than a year after launching its Melbourne office, memberships in the exclusive and expensive rental company are running out.More than 135 Australians have signed up and the company will limit its membership to 200 to make sure there are enough cars to go around.“We'll never go above 200 members,” says James Ward, general manager of P1 in Victoria, “basically to maintain a ratio of five new members for each new car.”Though only 29 vehicles are spread across the company's three Australian locations — in Richmond, Sydney and the Gold Coast — the quality of the cars and motorbikes has seen the company lay out $29 million on equipment.Set up by former Formula One world champion Damon Hill in 2000 in Britain, the club came to Australia in December 2006. The Richmond branch opened last March.Members can join for $4550 and pay annual charges ranging from $27,000 to $36,500 to have access to a dream garage.P1's roster includes three examples of the Lamborghini Gallardo, a Lamborghini Murcielago, Ferrari 430, Ferrari 575M, Aston Martin DB9, Bentley GT Continental, Porsche 997 GT3, Porsche Cayman S, Audi RS4 Avant, Lotus Exige, Hummer H2, and a Ducati 1098 and BMW K1200 for bikers.Packages give customers a bank of points to use through the year.As is befitting the cost, the company offers a range of services. They drop off the cars anywhere they are required and can store and wash the customer's personal car.“It's as much about the car as it is about the service,” Ward says . “It's whatever suits our customers.”