Tag Archives: Porsche

Tuning

RML GT Hypercar: The Porsche 911 Turbo S Reborn as a Road-Legal Monster

For years, Porsche’s 918 Hybrid sat atop the German marque’s hypercar hierarchy—a technologic tour de force that few could rival. But since its retirement, the crown has been unclaimed… until now. Enter RML Group, the British engineering outfit known for its no-compromise approach to performance, with a machine that doesn’t just pay homage to the 911—it utterly transmogrifies it.

Meet the RML GT Hypercar (GTH), a radical reinterpretation of the Porsche 911 Turbo S, drenched in motorsport DNA and engineering bravado. First teased last year as the P39 prototype, the GTH has now matured into production reality, with the first model debuting as the 40th Anniversary Special Edition—a one-off celebration that hints at the full potential of RML’s vision.

The GTH keeps just a whisper of its Porsche heritage: glass, mirrors, and lighting elements nod politely to the original. Everything else screams innovation. Carbon fiber dominates, flared fenders swell with purpose, the tail stretches like a Le Mans prototype, and aerodynamic treatments hug every contour. The result? A silhouette that is simultaneously familiar and ferociously exotic—a 911 for the racetrack, yet still capable of daily road life.

This first SE example is painted in Storm Purple, with exposed carbon details and purple-carbon inserts on the roof and hood. Gold-painted central-locking wheels hide gunmetal calipers, while the nose wears a Porsche-esque RML logo and the rear proudly displays hand-painted “GTH” lettering in gold. Inside, leather upholstery with Crayon stitching, matching seatbelts, body-colored carbon inserts, and a Storm Purple roll cage elevate the cabin to something more race car than road car.

Performance isn’t just for show. The rear-mounted 3.7-liter twin-turbo flat-six, reworked by Litchfield Motors, churns out a staggering 925 hp and over 1,000 Nm of torque. That’s hypercar territory, where the line between “killer of Porsches” and “Porsche killer” blurs deliciously. Optional Performance and Track packages add active height-adjustable suspension, the roll cage, and delete the rear seats, ensuring every gram of performance is track-focused.

RML plans a very limited run: 39 units, with just 10 of the 40th Anniversary SE. Prices start at £495,000, excluding tax and the cost of the donor 911 Turbo S. For those who demand exclusivity and blistering performance in one package, the GTH isn’t just a car—it’s a statement.

From its Wellingborough facility, RML has delivered its 39th project since 1984, proving that while some brands rest on legacy, true engineering alchemy comes from ambition, audacity, and a touch of madness. The GTH is exactly that: a 911 you think you know, transformed into a hypercar you’ll never forget.

Source: RML

News

Porsche’s Smartest SUV Yet (And Yes, It Can Beat You at Parking)

It was always going to happen, wasn’t it? One day, the car that carries your shopping, your kids, and your German Shepherd was bound to outsmart you at parallel parking. And with the latest update to Porsche’s all-electric Macan, that day has arrived. The new model year isn’t about horsepower wars or Nürburgring lap times – instead, Porsche has gone full Black Mirror, loading its electric SUV with enough tech to make Silicon Valley blush.

This isn’t just a mild software tickle. Think of it more like a digital arms race, where your Macan can now remember your parking space better than you can, politely reverse itself out of a nightmare multi-storey, and even stream video games while it charges. Yes, you read that right: a Porsche that’s as much an Xbox as it is a car.

Parking, Reimagined

Let’s start with the toys. The optional Surround View system was already handy, stitching together four high-res cameras to give you a 360-degree view of your pride and joy. But now it’s gone next-level.

  • Transparent Bonnet: Not an Avengers-style cloaking device, but clever trickery that lets you “see through” the bonnet on the central display. Handy for spotting obstacles when crawling across tricky terrain… or when you’ve badly judged the supermarket speed bump.
  • Trained Parking: Like a loyal butler, the Macan can now learn your favourite spots – your tight driveway, your office garage – and do the parking ballet for you. Up to five routines can be stored, which is perfect if you’ve got multiple homes, or just a habit of forgetting where you live.
  • Reversing Assist: If you’ve ever driven into a medieval alleyway and thought, “Well, this is how I die,” Porsche’s got your back. The Macan will retrace its steps backwards for up to 50 metres, sparing you from a 37-point turn.

Your Phone is Now the Key

Physical keys? How quaint. With Porsche Digital Key, your iPhone, Apple Watch, or Android can unlock, start, and generally command your Macan using NFC, Bluetooth, and Ultra-Wideband wizardry.

Even better, you can share your car key with up to seven other people via WhatsApp, iMessage, or email. Perfect if you’ve always dreamt of running a Porsche carpool service, or if your teenager has “borrowed” the Macan one too many times and you’d like the power to revoke access instantly.

Entertainment: Because Charging is Boring

Porsche knows EV drivers spend a fair amount of time waiting at charging stations, so the Macan is now a rolling App Center. Think streaming, podcasts, movies – and now, video games.

You’ll find Gameloft, AirConsole, and even family-friendly classics ready to go, controllable via touchscreen, smartphone, or Bluetooth controller. The optional passenger display means your co-pilot can binge a series or smash high scores without distracting the driver. Plug in a Bluetooth headset, and suddenly your charging stop looks less like “wasted time” and more like “Netflix and charge.”

Voice Pilot Levels Up

The Voice Pilot system has been upgraded with AI smarts. It now understands context, multi-layered questions, and can even serve as an interactive owner’s manual. Want to know how to enable Reversing Assist? Just ask. Want to quiz your car about its towing capacity? It’ll answer. Want to engage in light banter about the weather? Well, we’ll see.

More Practical Muscle

Because this is still a Porsche, not just a rolling iPad, the engineers didn’t forget the basics. The Macan EV’s towing capacity has jumped by 500kg to a hefty 2,500kg. Enough to drag along your race trailer, your caravan, or an enormous boat you’ll never learn to park. And if you’ve already bought one, don’t panic: Porsche says this can be retroactively enabled, because over-the-air updates now extend to brute force.

Porsche’s latest Macan update isn’t about speed or range – it’s about making your life easier, smarter, and more entertaining. In short, the car now does the boring bits so you can enjoy the fun bits. It’ll park itself, talk back, carry more, and keep you entertained while it charges.

It’s Porsche, but with less sweat and more smarts. Or put another way: the Macan EV is now clever enough to pass the Turing test, but still silly enough to let you play Mario Kart while waiting for electrons.

And that, dear reader, is a future we can get behind.

Source: Porsche

News

Porsche Scales Back Battery Production Plans, Doubles Down on R&D

Porsche has long positioned itself as one of the more aggressive legacy automakers in the EV transition. The Taycan was early proof that Stuttgart could build an electric car that feels every bit like a Porsche. But even for one of the industry’s most profitable sports-car brands, reality is catching up: building batteries at scale isn’t easy, and the global EV ramp-up isn’t unfolding as quickly—or evenly—as once hoped.

This week, Porsche confirmed that its Cellforce Group subsidiary will abandon plans to scale up high-performance battery production, instead pivoting to a pure research and development role. The Kirchentellinsfurt facility, once envisioned as a “start-up factory” producing around 1 GWh of cells annually with expansion to follow, will remain a lab rather than a factory.

Why the Pivot?

The short answer: volumes, or the lack thereof.

Europe has been Porsche’s strongest EV foothold, with electrified models making up 57 percent of deliveries in the first half of 2025—beating even its own IPO targets. Globally, however, Porsche’s EV mix stands at just 36 percent. In the U.S., demand has been slower than anticipated. In China, the electric luxury segment Porsche depends on simply hasn’t materialized at the pace analysts once predicted. Without the economies of scale needed to bring down costs, in-house battery production no longer looks like a viable business case.

Michael Steiner, Porsche’s board member for R&D, put it bluntly: “Unfortunately, the market for electric vehicles worldwide has not developed as originally thought. The framework conditions have changed fundamentally and we have to react to them.”

What Happens to Cellforce?

Rather than winding it down entirely, Porsche is reshaping Cellforce into a leaner, research-focused unit. The company says it will continue investing in high-performance battery cell technology, with development orders also expected to flow in from PowerCo—the Volkswagen Group’s battery arm. Staff reductions are on the table, though Porsche stresses they’ll be handled “in a socially responsible manner,” with affected employees potentially finding roles within PowerCo.

It’s not all bad news: Cellforce’s work isn’t disappearing. The know-how is already trickling into production cars, like the ultra-high-performance lithium-ion round cells used as booster batteries in the Porsche 911 GTS hybrid. Additional 911 derivatives featuring performance hybrid systems are right around the corner.

Porsche’s EV Roadmap

Despite the scale-back, Porsche insists it remains fully committed to electrification. The Taycan and new Macan EV continue to set benchmarks for performance and charging speed in their segments. An all-electric Cayenne and a 718 successor are next in line.

But unlike some rivals, Porsche isn’t going all-in on EVs just yet. Instead, it’s sticking to a “three-lane highway” strategy: combustion, hybrid, and EVs in every major segment through at least the 2030s. That means a world where you can still buy a gas-powered 911 alongside a hybrid Panamera or an all-electric Cayenne.

CEO Oliver Blume framed it this way: “Electromobility will remain an essential drive technology for our sports cars in the future. But for volume reasons and a lack of economies of scale, Porsche is no longer pursuing its own production of battery cells.”

The Takeaway

Porsche is learning the same lesson that Ford, GM, and other automakers are grappling with: EV adoption is not a one-size-fits-all story. Europe is charging ahead, but U.S. demand is volatile, and China’s luxury EV scene remains a work in progress. Betting billions on full-scale in-house battery production without guaranteed volumes is a gamble even Porsche won’t take.

Instead, the company is falling back on what it does best—engineering—and leaving the heavy industrial lifting to partners with deeper pockets and bigger factories. That may not make Porsche a battery powerhouse, but if it results in faster, longer-lasting, and more exciting EVs, enthusiasts won’t mind one bit.

Source: Porsche