Porsche Design may not be directly involved in building German supercars, but there are certain expectations to be met, aren’t there? LaCie is rolling out a new version of its Porsche Design hard drive skewed towards Mac owners that should offer more of the performance you’d associate with the automotive brand. The P’9223 Slim SSD is a third thinner than its ancestor but carries the option of a 120GB SSD that makes the most of the USB 3.0 port. If all runs well, nearly any Mac launched in 2012 can shuttle data along at a brisk 400MB per second. Demanding Mac fans will need to pay $150 for the flash-based edition to have the P’9223 feel truly Porsche-like; others only have to spend $100 if they’re content with the Volkswagen pace of a 500GB spinning drive.
LaCie, a reputable name in the external hard drive industry and maker of some of the toughest external drives around, announced today the P’9223 Slim. The drive was designed by a partnership between LaCie and Porsche Design that brings faster speeds and a sleek, thin design to the company’s line of external hard drives.
The P’9223 has a smooth aluminum finish and a thin form factor that LaCie says is meant to match the exteriors of Apple’s MacBook Pro and MacBook Air line of laptops, and the drive is specifically “designed with Apple enthusiasts in mind.” The company says that it’s also their fastest external drive yet, combining USB 3.0 with an optional SSD option to “maximize performance.”
LaCie says the USB 3.0 on their new drive can deliver speeds of up to 400MB/s, and thanks to the USB Attached SCSI Protocol, LaCie claims that the drive gets “even better speeds” on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, as long as you’re either running OS X Lion or Mountain Lion. Whether or not that’s true, we’ll have to wait for benchmark results.
The P’9223 Slim is the thinnest 2.5-inch storage device made by LaCie, and it’s 30% thinner than the previous Porsche edition. The drive comes in two storage capacities. The 500GB model will cost $99, while the 120GB SSD model will be priced at $149. Both models come with a two-year limited warranty.
There’s no love lacking for Porsche’s high-performance vehicles, but compared to Lamborghinis or Ferraris, they don’t always have that wow factor. At least not like the office supplies the company designs. The P’3115 LaserFlex pen from Porsche Design has a laser-cut interlocking stainless steel body that expands and contracts when the ballpoint tip is deployed. More »
I’ll admit that when Porsche first announced that it was coming up with an SUV called the Cayenne, I was rather irritated that a sports car company was pandering to the SUV driving masses. Once the SUV hit the market and I saw that it was as quick as many sports cars I felt a little bit better about Porsche offering an SUV. Porsche has unveiled the new Cayenne Turbo S and this is one SUV I would really enjoy owning.
Porsche claims that the Cayenne Turbo S has advanced active chassis technologies that allow it to surpass the driving performance of many sports cars. At the same time, the SUV still preserves its off-road capability, ride comfort, and towing ability. I can’t see anyone driving one of these off-road, but I have seen people towing with a Cayenne before. Naturally, the guy was towing a 911 GT3.
The Cayenne Turbo S gets a 50 hp bump compared to the normal Cayenne Turbo. The Cayenne Turbo S also gets a extra torque with a rating of 553 pound-feet of torque compared to the normal Cayenne Turbo 516 pound-feet rating. The extra horsepower and torque allows the Turbo S version to accelerate quicker and have a higher top speed.
Porsche claims that the Cayenne Turbo S can hit 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and has a top speed of 175 mph. That is a seriously quick SUV. The Turbo S comes with the Sport Chrono package standard that includes an analog and digital timer in the center of the dash. The package also shows total driving time, lap distance covered, and individual lap times along with latitudinal and longitudinal acceleration. Clearly, Porsche expects people to take this big SUV on the track. Pricing for the Turbo S starts at $146,000.
Interbrand likes to give the world’s top companies a brand value, or a mix of their on-the-ground fiscal performance with an estimate of the premium they can ask through name alone. While there are a lot of traditional names in the consulting company’s 2012 list, the surprise this year is just how aggressively technology has invaded the top of the charts. It’s a good year to be a part of the mobile ecosystem: a very profitable Apple was by far the fastest grower and clinched second place in the list behind only Coca-Cola, while Kindle Fire creator Amazon (20th place) and Apple’s frequent rival Samsung (ninth) also shot past brands as big as Disney and Toyota. A special nod goes out to 69th-place Facebook, whose IPO this year and its recognition put it past companies like Porsche almost overnight. Not everyone in technology came out a winner — Microsoft, Nokia and RIM were among those that took a bruising — but Interbrand’s rankings hint that it’s better to be making tablets than designer handbags.
The shooting break — basically a long and low sporty station wagon — isn’t exactly a huge hit in the United States, but in Europe Porsche is pushing that body style to a new level with the Sport Turismo. It’s a concept of what it believes a future, hatchback version of its Panamera four-seater grand tourer might look like. But, look beyond the dramatic styling and distinctive LED headlights, and there’s plenty of tech to be spotted. Details after the break.
Porsche has taken the wraps off of its latest 911 iteration, the 911 Carrera 4 and 4S, new all-wheel drive performance versions of the iconic sportscar headed to showrooms in early 2013. The new 991-series cars will each be available in coupe or convertible versions, extending the range beyond the current rear-wheel drive models, with up to 400HP and a new 7-speed PDK dual-clutch gearbox for those unhappy with the standard 7-speed manual.
Compared to the previous Carrera 4 models, the 2013 cars drop fuel consumption and weight. Thirst is down by up to 16-percent, and heft by up to 65kg, though the new 911s keep the fatter-width rear wheel housings that help make them so distinctive on the road: each 22mm wider than those on the rear-wheel drive versions, with 10mm wider tyres.
Under the hood of the most powerful S models there’s a 3.8 litre rear-mounted boxer engine, which can push the 4 S coupe to 62mph in 4.1 seconds and the convertible in 4.3 seconds. Top speed is 186mph in the coupe and 184mph in the convertible. The regular Carrera 4 gets a 350HP engine good for a 4.5s 0-62 dash in the coupe or 4.7s in the convertible, with up to a 177mph top speed. You’ll be wanting one of the (slightly) slower cars if fuel economy is your goal, however, with the 350HP coupe pushing out 203 g/km of CO2; at the other end of the scale, the fastest version gobbles down gas at 26mpg in the auto option.
While the outward looks haven’t changed much, as is Porsche’s usual approach, there’s plenty of new tech for owners to crow about. Most important is the new active all-wheel drive system itself, dubbed Porsche Traction Management (PTM), for sportier driving dynamics along with better on-road stability, and which is paired with optional adaptive cruise control that tracks forward traffic to dynamically adjust speed. If you throw the auto into the mix, the cruise control also supports “Porsche Active Safe” front collision avoidance.
Inside, there’s a new sliding glass sunroof option for the coupe, and if you spec a manual gearbox and the Sport Chrono pack then you get a Sport Plus mode that automatically double-declutches during downshifting. Plenty of leather, aluminum, and a big-screen nav and entertainment system can also be expected.
The new Porsche 911 Carrera 4 will go on sale in early 2013 across North America and Europe. Pricing will be from $91,030/€97,557 for the coupe and from $102,930/€110,290 for the convertible, with the Carrera 4 S coupe coming in at $105,630 and the Carrera 4 S convertible at $117,530.
Started saving up for your $845,000 purchase next fall yet? Yeah, neither have we. But we’re at least considering it once again — albeit not for very long — thanks to a sneaky videographer that caught the dapper Porsche 918 Spyder winding around the turns of the Nürburgring in Germany. Packing a V8 with two electric motors, the super car can hit 60MPH in a hair over three seconds and touts a fuel efficiency of 78MPG. Don’t worry, though, you have until sometime late next year to get your stacks lined up to park one in your driveway.
I’ve never been a fan of those car company branded bikes, like BMW and Ferrari, but this design is kind of interesting since it’s supposed to be made not just for looks, but for speed. It was created by the Netherlands-based designer Bastiaan Kok and was inspired by the Porsche 911.
The bodywork of this bike mimics the iconic lines of the famous sports car. It’s got an integrated headlight, as well as a curved top tube and a rear wheel fender that comes complete with a taillight. The handle bar is low, kind of like a time trial bike, and there’s even a place to store your helmet.
It’s supposed to be built from lightweight alloy, but I doubt that this would work well since most high-end bikes are made out of carbon fiber. The design has disc brakes, and that’s a good feature because as fast as this is supposed to go, you’ll need to stop quickly not to crash.
For now, the 911 Bicycle is only a concept, so you probably won’t be seeing one on the road any time soon.
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