Porsche Boxster 2011 News

The open-top two-seater has a completely new lightweight body and revamped chassis. Weight has been reduced which combines with with a longer wheelbase, wider track, larger wheels and new electro-mechanical power steering to take the mid-engined roadster's dynamics to an eye watering level. The new Porsche Boxster also boasts improved performance and up to 15 per cent greater fuel efficiency with less than 8.0 litres/ 100km achievable. It has a new look too with the body sporting shorter overhangs, a more forward windscreen, distinctive silhouette and expressive edges. Occupants are enclosed by the redesigned, fully electric roof which now dispenses with a convertible top compartment lid. The interior offers more space and reflects the new Porsche design language with raked centre console originating from the Carrera GT. Both Boxster and Boxster S run flat-six engines with direct petrol injection, the efficiency of which is further enhanced by electrical system recuperation, thermal management and start/stop function. The base model's new engine delivers 195 kW from a 2.7 litre displacement - up seven kilowatts over its predecessor despite a reduction in capacity. The 3.4 litre Boxster S now delivers 232 kW - up four kilowatts. Both models feature a manual six-speed gearbox as standard with the seven-speed Porsche (PDK) available as an option. Both sports cars achieve their best fuel consumption and acceleration performance with the PDK. With gear changes without interruption to the power flow, the Boxster sprints from zero to 100 km/h in 5.7 seconds, the Boxster S in 5.0 seconds. To enhance driving dynamics even further, Porsche offers the Sport Chrono Package as an optional extra, featuring dynamic transmission mounts for the first time. Also new on the roadster is Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) with mechanical rear axle differential lock. The new Boxster generation goes on sale in Europe in mid April, with sales in Australia beginning a few months later. Local pricing will be announced close to then.

What should have been the main attraction in the car world was reduced to a sideshow as the heads of America's Big Three sat down in Detroit on the same day to beg for the billions they need to stay in business.There was plenty of shiny new stuff but all the talk was doom and gloom, even from car chiefs who do not have the same live-or-die pressures as General Motors, Ford and Chrysler."I think it is fair to say this is the worst we have seen," the head of the world's fifth-largest carmaker, Carlos Ghosn of the Nissan- Renault alliance, says as he delivers the keynote speech at the opening of LA '08."And we are not certain. Is this the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning?", Ghosn says of the critical cash crisis which is affecting nearly everyone in the car world.Still, there is plenty of new stuff and news on the strangely subdued stands in downtown LA.The latest Ford Mustang, for a start.And then the world debut of the latest Mazda3 and Lexus RX, the great looking new Nissan 370Z, the updated Porsche Cayman and Boxster, and even a droptop Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4.It's no surprise, either, that some of the special impact in LA is reserved for cars which are chasing the elusive path to a future beyond petrol that satisfies American lawmakers' deepening desire for transport without emissions.The Mini E is the obvious champion, but LA also has the electric Mitsubishi i-MIEV which is likely to become Australia's first plug-and- go volt car, and all sorts of new-and-old battery-powered concept cars from the Big Three and a growing number of hybrid production cars including the Mondeo-sized Ford Fusion.As well as the radical looking Honda FC Sport Concept, which was done to prove that a hydrogen-powered future car does not have to look as boring or family as the company's upcoming Insight or the benchmark Toyota Prius.The show is a mis-hit for General Motors, which canned its concepts and parties, although Ford stays totally committed with a Mustang which makes the running for an event which typically draws around one million visitors in a city which is the car capital of the USA and, by extension, the world."I think there is a mixed emotion at the show," says J Mays (SUBS: CORRECT), the design director of Ford Motor Company."You still have to try and tug hard enough on the heart strings that people forget about the purse strings. It's a yin-and-yang situation."Looking over at his Mustang, and across to the Honda FC, Mays expresses what many people are thinking. Even at a time when it is more politically correct to attack the car chiefs, and their private- jet flights to Washington, than to talk about a show which takes another important step towards the world beyond petrol."Automobiles are escapism. It's not just transport," says Mays."People ask if it's appropriate to launch the Mustang at his time. Damn right it is. It puts a smile on your face and enhances your quality of life."That is definitely true of the Mustang, which still looks muscular and fresh despite a chassis which trails well behind the Ford Falcon, and the open-air Gallardo and even the second-generation Nissan Cube, which could just make it to Australia one day.And the 370Z looks tauter than today's 350, with the promise of more go and much better cabin quality, and the Mazda3 is fresh and happy.The Mini E looks just like the regular petrol-power car but is a milestone car which has the power and range to win people to electric."It's an important time in the history of the global car industry," says Carlos Ghosn.He worries about the impact of the global recession, and the money pressures on carmakers trying to evolve faster than ever before, and the challenges of safety and emission regulations.But, just like the cars on the LA Show stands, and the regular car people who flood in once the doors are open, he is bottom-line upbeat and bright."The one thing that is certain, absolutely certain, is that people will continue driving cars. Cars have no substitute. We have convergence on the issues, but divergence on the solutions," Ghosn says.And that is pretty much the way things looked in LA.