2013 Porsche Boxster unveiled with more efficiency, performance and maturity

Porsche may have just unveiled its new 2012 911 Carrera Cabriolet at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this week, but the German automaker is wasting no time before showing off its next bit of overhauled hotness, the 2013 Boxster. The mid-engine roadster won't make its official debut until the Geneva Motor Show in March, but we've been given some preliminary details ahead of the new Box's primetime unveiling.

Much like the 911, the new Boxster's design is more evolution than revolution, and that's a-okay with us. The redesigned roadster is extremely handsome, and most of us on the Autoblog staff think it's the best-looking Boxster yet. We like the revised headlamps and more svelte running lamp/air intake setup, and the wider stance and longer wheelbase are nicely masked in the new design. The 2013 Boxster's all-aluminum skin also helps the new model shed a few pounds compared to its predecessor, which will not only make it that much more engaging out on the road, but also improve fuel economy.

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Porsche looking to hire 300 engineers in 2012

Porsche is investing heavily in research and development to stay ahead of the company's impressive sales growth. Automotive News reports the German automaker is spending more than 10 percent of its revenue on research and development. That figure comes from Wolfgang Hatz, Porsche's head of R&D (for comparison's sake, automakers spend between five and six percent).

A main component of the spending splurge will see Porsche hiring more than 300 engineers in 2012 as part of an effort to increase the company's core staff by around 10 percent. Porsche hired a similar number of engineers in 2010 on top of replacing staff members who left as part of standard turnover.

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Porsche Design has made its own Blackberry

While its styling has refined over successive generations, you don't buy a Porsche for how it looks. You buy one for how it works. And the same could be said of a BlackBerry. The favorite communications tool of businesspeople worldwide and a number of private consumers as well, the BlackBerry is – like a Porsche – more about function than form. Leave it to Porsche Design, then, to up its style factor.

Having already produced phones on its own, Porsche Design has long been rumored to be working on a project for Research In Motion, the Canadian company responsible for unleashing the addictive device upon the world. And here it is.

The co-branded "Porsche Design P'9981 Smartphone from BlackBerry" packs a 1.2 GHz processor, HD video camera, eight gigs of internal (expandable) memory, a QWERTY keyboard and BlackBerry 7 OS into a slick forged stainless steel case with leather back and a touch display screen. A personal concierge service is included with the P'9981, which still doesn't make its estimated $2,000 price tag any more reasonable. Then again, it's the kind of thing you'd expect a style-conscious business executive to be talking on when he cuts you off in his Panamera.

Source: Autoblog

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2012 Porsche 911 lops 13 seconds off predecessor's 'Ring time, quick as 997 GT3

The Porsche 911 is dead, long live the Porsche 911. The German automaker's latest and greatest has taken to the Nürburgring where old marks have fallen hard. The 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S was sent through the Green Hell, where it promptly beat the time achieved by the prior 997 version by a whopping 13 seconds.

With a time of 7:40, the 2012 911 matches the mark set by the previous 911 GT3. If you happen to own a previous generation 911 GT3, we'll pause here for a moment while you go out to smash something with a hammer.

Back? Great. You shouldn't fret too much, because this just means the next-generation GT3 should be a land rocket capable of blistering the surface of the 'Ring. GT2 guys, your numbers are still safe... for now.


Source: autoblog

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Porsche

Porsche 911 GT1

In spite of its 911 moniker the car actually had very little in common with the 911 of the time, however it's frontal chassis was shared with the then (993) 911, while the rear of the car was derived from the Porsche 962, including its water-cooled, twin-turbocharged and intercooled, four valve per cylinder flat-six engine which was arranged in a mid-mounted position, compared to the rear engined layout of a coventional 911. The engine was making about 600 hp (450 kW). In comparison, the 993 generation 911 GT2, which was otherwise the company's highest-performance vehicle, used an air-cooled engine with only two valves per cylinder.

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