Tag Archives: Porsche

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2023 WEC – World Endurance Championship more exciting than ever

The new season of the 2023 WEC – World Endurance Championship starts on March 17 and is expected to be more exciting than the previous ones. This season (which also marks the centenary of the first 24 Hours of Le Mans), as many as 13 superfast hybrid prototypes from nine teams will participate in the battle for glory in the most powerful class (Hypercar). This is what endurance racing fans have been waiting for for years.

This year, Ferrari returns to the strongest class in which the Italian team has not participated in decades, and the two red 499P prototypes will face the Hypercar prototypes of Toyota (GR-010), Cadillac (V-LMDh), Porsche (963), Peugeot ( 9X8), Glickenhaus (007) and Vanwall Vandervell (680).

Porsche will have four cars in the most powerful class, two from the team Porsche Penske Motorsport and one each from the private teams Hertz Team Jota and Proton Competition. In the fight for the very top, the Penske Porsche 963 with number 6 with drivers Frenchman Kévin Estre, German André Lotterer and Belgian Laurens Vanthoor have the best chances. Cadillac, Glickenhaus and Vanwall Vandervell will each have one car in the game, and Ferrari, Toyota and Peugeot will each have two cars.

The LMGTE Pro class in which teams from Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, Aston Martin, Corvette… no longer exists. GT cars will be present this season only in the LMGTE Am class, in which 12 teams will have six Porsche 911 RSR-19s, four Ferrari 488 GTE Evos, three Aston Martin Vantage AMRs and one Corvette C8.R.

11 cars from seven teams will participate in the LMP2 class. This year’s calendar has seven races, among which, definitely, the most important jubilee race is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which starts on June 10, and the season will start with the 1,000 miles of Sebring (USA).

Endurance racing is returning to its roots, and this is confirmed by the previously published information that Lamborghini and BMW will be in the Hypercar company starting next year.

Gallery:

Source: WEC

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Porsche 911 Dakar in new colors

A few months ago, Porsche has finally unveiled a limited edition version of its all-road car, the 2023 Porsche 911 Dakar. The car is based on the Carrera 4 GTS but with slightly higher suspension. Now Porsche has decided to offer the car in body colors reminiscent of Porsche’s competition in the Safari Rally in 1971, 1974 and 1978.

With this model, Porsche paid tribute to the Porsche 911 (953), which won the famous Paris-Dakar rally in 1984. In addition to the options with which Porsche recalls the appearance of factory-prepared 911s that were used in the Safari Rally in 1971 and 1974 races, there is also the most attractive option for the 911 Dakar, which in that case wears the recognizable Martini colors that adorned the competition 911 in 1978. The price of the first two options is €4,905 EUR, while the 911 Dakar in Martini colors costs €7,000 EUR.

In Off-Road mode the Porsche 911 Dakar is 8 cm higher, while in Rallye mode the distance is reduced from 8 to 5 cm. The new front bumper, revised air intakes and fixed rear wing are just some of the novelties that the 911 Dakar has. At the rear there are round exhaust pipes and a single-piece light bar under the rear wing.

911 Dakar is powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged boxer 6 engine with 473 hp (348 kW) and 420 lb-ft (570 Nm) of torque. Power is transmitted to all wheels via an 8-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK). It reaches 60 mph in 3.4 seconds with an electronically limited top speed of 149 mph (240 km/h). It’s mounted on a set of 19 and 20-inch wheels wrapped in 245/45 R19 (front) and 295/40 R20 (rear) all-terrain tires.

Porsche will produce 2,500 examples of the 911 Dakar, and the starting price is €222,000 EUR.

Gallery:

Porsche 911 Dakar in new colors

Source: Porsche

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According to J.D. Power, Alfa Romeo is ahead of Porsche and Lexus

U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) is a study that analyzes the customer’s experience when buying a car, his experience of shopping at the dealership and the brand’s relationship with him as a customer. The study is conducted every year, and this year’s study showed surprising results. Based on the experience of 36,879 customers who bought a car from March to May this year, the most satisfied were Alfa Romeo customers.

The study was based on six factors: delivery process (26 percent), dealership staff (24 percent), purchasing process (19 percent), paperwork completion (18 percent), dealership infrastructure (10 percent) and dealership website (3 percent). So, this is not about the quality of the vehicle, but the relationship with the customers, and it seems that Alfa Romeo made an effort to be the best.

The greatest dissatisfaction was shown by the buyers of electric vehicles, as 38 percent of them did not receive proper charging instructions. Only buyers of premium electric vehicles received hands-on vehicle demonstrations and their satisfaction with the purchase was far greater. Buyers of cars with an internal combustion engine were more satisfied, although car prices are higher and waiting lists are getting longer.

“With the supply chain being an ongoing issue and with no near-term solution, dealerships have had to use additional tools at their disposal, such as special orders and more personal customer handling, to maintain sales satisfaction. However, when dealers charge more than MSRP, particularly with long-term loyal customers, they risk a potential long-term negative effect on customer advocacy and service business,” said Chris Sutton, vice president of automotive retail at J.D. Power.

When it comes to other car manufacturers, Porsche (831) ranks second and Lexus (819) ranks third among premium brands. Among mass market brands, Buick ranks highest, while Dodge (816) ranks second and Subaru (804) ranks third.

Source: J.D. Power