RE: Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 And Boxster Spyder Unveiled
Fascinating how whilst emissions issues have not entirely killed off the NA engine, they are really having an impact on NA sports car fundamentals (power, weight, sound). Apart from sound, how do you work that out? When Porsche introduced its first NA GT car engine with the filter for WLTP, the power increased. And the weight of the exhaust system went down. Same with Audi and the R8 with WLTP and a the filter. To clarify, under WLTP Porsche is making an NA production engine with its second highest ever specific output. The 991.2 RS pre-WLTP is a tiny bit higher, but that's probably down to ram effect. Porsche is expected to do a second batch of RS with filers and I expect it will at least match the pre-filter spec. If so that will mean Porsche will be producing its higher ever specific output NA production engine under WLTP. The emissions thing is thus completely over done. It's demonstrably not an issue for power output, clearly not a major problem for weight, either. The only real issue at play is overall fleet CO2 emissions and thus a reluctance to do big engines. But that has been going on for a bit. For the 991's I agree Porsche have met the requirements by seemingly improving their engine performance and related exhaust systems, which is why its surprising that the same hasn't been achieved with the 718 GT4.
Ford, Porsche, Cadillac, and now Volvo are among the carmakers giving drivers the option of a subscription. The biggest difference is the time frame: Rather than being tied to a years鈥?long lease, subscriptions give you the ability to 鈥渙wn鈥?a car on a month-to-month basis. You could theoretically not have a car for 10 months of the year when you鈥檙e working and using public transit and then get a car subscription for two months when you鈥檒l be traveling more often. These subscription plans include insurance, saving the time and headache of hunting for a policy yourself. Also unlike a lease: You may not have the option to buy your car at the end of your term. 鈥淐ar subscriptions鈥?appear to be a clear bid to garner favor with tech-savvy millennials in busy metropolitan areas鈥攁 demographic that was erroneously pegged as avoiding car ownership (amid the myriad things millennials have killed). Most millennials, as it turns out, don鈥檛 always want to rely on Uber and public transit for their travel needs.
Ford鈥檚 car subscription service is called Canvas. On its website, it outlines the car subscription process. First, you choose a car鈥攊n its case, a pre-owned vehicle less than three years old鈥攁nd then you choose a monthly mileage package ranging from 500 miles to unlimited. Additional miles add to your monthly subscription cost, but like some smartphone data plans, if you don鈥檛 use all the miles you paid for, they鈥檒l roll over to the next month. From there, you schedule a delivery, and the car arrives with everything else included鈥攔egistration, warranty, insurance, roadside assistance, and maintenance. At the end of each month, you can renew your subscription or return the vehicle. Porsche and Cadillac offer similar deals. 3,000 subscription. With Porsche Passport, you can switch cars as often as you choose. 1,800 per month, lets you swap between cars as often as 18 times per year. Volvo鈥檚 just-announced plan, Care By Volvo, is more constrained than these versions鈥攂ut it鈥檚 also cheaper. 700 a month), and鈥攎ore like a lease鈥攜ou鈥檝e got to hold onto the car for two years.
However, it does come with roadside assistance, factory-scheduled maintenance, 鈥渨ear and tear鈥?replacements on commonly replaced components like windshield wiper blades, and Liberty Mutual auto insurance. There鈥檚 one more big difference between many of these new car subscription services and leasing a vehicle: availability. Cadillac鈥檚 BOOK service is only in New York City, Dallas, and Los Angeles; Porsche鈥檚 program is based in Atlanta; and Ford鈥檚 Canvas program is only in San Francisco and western Los Angeles. Volvo鈥檚 subscription service, however, will be available nationwide when it debuts next year. Looking at costs over the long run, it鈥檚 likely the carmakers who will win out in the end鈥攊f the idea of car subscriptions catches on as fast as other mobile subscriptions have. These car subscription services seem like an excellent way to simplify the car ownership experience. It鈥檚 basically an all-inclusive lease, but with less commitment鈥攁nd that seems downright logical. If you can get a subscription for everything from music to meals, why not your daily driver, too? Correction, Dec. 3, 2017: This post originally said subscribers would not have the option to buy their cars at the end of their term. While that is true for its competitors, Volvo does offer the option to buy. 1,800 per month in late November.
Porsche has taken the wraps off its new 718 Cayman T and 718 Boxster T derivatives, claiming to have 鈥渢ransferred the puristic design鈥?of the original (1968) 911 T to its range of two-seater sportscars. Both variants use the brand鈥檚 2,0-litre turbocharged flat-four engine, providing unchanged peak outputs (compared with the base Cayman and Boxster) of 220 kW and 380 N.m through either a six-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed PDK. So, what sets these two variants apart from the basic Cayman and Boxster derivatives? Still, Porsche goes on to say the two-seaters also offer a 鈥減ared down range of features鈥? These include black door pulls in the door panels and sports seats with electric two-way adjustment, black Sport-Tex centre sections and the 鈥?18鈥?logo embroidered on the headrests. Furthermore, the Porsche Communication Management module has been replaced by a large storage compartment, though buyers who do not wish to forego the entertainment system may order it at no extra charge.