All posts by Francis Mitterrand

News

Flying Tiger is the first VW flying taxi

Just as the sky is not the limit for the South Korean company Hyundai, the same could be said for VW. The German car manufacturer has unveiled its first flying taxi, the Flying Tiger.

This flying taxi is 11.2 meters long and 10.6 meters wide, and is the work of Volkswagen Group China. The eVTOL-type aircraft has the ability to take off and land vertically, and is equipped with eight vertical rotors and two horizontal rotors, allowing it to move in all directions.

Flying Tiger is still in the prototype phase and according to information coming from Volkswagen, it should have a range of 200 km and enough space to accommodate four people. More information about this craft, VW should release soon.

VW expects that the Flying Tiger should go into production next year, when it should have its first official flight. It is an ambitious plan considering that Hyundai has announced its autonomous flying taxi Supernal by 2028. It is expected that, due to zero-emission, it will attract a certain number of interested parties and replace a large number of helicopters that are currently used in short-distance transport.

Source: Volkswagen

News, Tuning

Ferrari Portofino M with 704 HP

In 2017, on the Italian Riviera, Ferrari presented its new car, the Portofino. Three years later, the Italian car manufacturer presented the Portofino M (Modificata) version, with several improvements and additional horsepower.

The Ferrari Portofino M is powered by a 3.9-liter twin-turbo V8 engine with 612 hp (456 kW) and 561 ft-lb (760 Nm) of torque. By comparison, the Portofino has 592 hp (441 kW). The engine is paired with an 8-speed Magna 8DCL900 dual-clutch transmission. It reaches 62 mph in 3.5 seconds, 124 mph (200 km/h) in 10.8 seconds and a top speed of 200 mph (320 km/h).

However, the German tuner Novitec believes that this super car can do much more. First of all, the engine power has been increased by an additional 92 hp, so now the drop-top 2+2 seater has 704 hp (518 kW) and 650 lb-ft (882 Nm) of torque. Thanks to this, this supercar reaches 62 mph in 3.2 seconds with a top speed of 202 mph (325 km/h).

Novitec equipped the Portofino M with naked-carbon components, which improved the car’s aerodynamics. These include the frontspoiler lip, air inserts on the engine cover, inserts on the side openings on the bumper, side skirts, side mirror covers, air inserts on the front fenders and rearspoiler lip. There are also carbon tailpipes, a set of sports springs that bring the car an additional 35 mm closer to the ground, a new exhaust system, but also a set of forged 21 and 22-inch Vossen rims wrapped in 255/30 ZR 21 (front) and 315/25 ZR 22 ( rear) tires.

When it comes to the interior, Novitec allows each customer to personalize the design according to their own wishes.

Source: Novitec

News, Tuning

The Singer Porsche 911 story has come to an end

Since 2010, the California-based company, Singer Vehicle Design, has so far offered wealthy customers around the world restored and modified Porsche models. Now after more than a decade the story has come to an end. Singer Vehicle Design has officially announced that it is no longer accepting orders for restomod Porsche 911 (964).

In its 12 years of operation, Singer has successfully realized 450 projects based on the 911 (964) model. Singer CEO Rob Dickinson has stated that Singer Vehicle Design will no longer offer restomod 911s from the 964 Series, despite the fact that there are still many of these cars on the market that would make an excellent basis for Singer’s method of restoration/modification. Dickinson also said that 12 years ago, no one at Singer thought they would end up selling 450 examples of a car that costs around $1 million.

The Porsche 911 restomod is powered by a 4.0-liter flat-six engine with 390 hp (287 kW) and 315 lb-ft (427 Nm) of torque. That’s enough power to push the car to 62 mph in just over 3 seconds. The engine is paired with a five-speed or six-speed manual transmission.

The company said that they are preparing for a new chapter, the Turbo Study, which was recently announced by the 911 model, whose appearance is clearly reminiscent of the first Porsche 911 Turbo that was presented in 1975.

Source: Singer Vehicle Design