From track to road and back to track again. That is the path for gasoline direct fuel injection. In the late 90s Audi added direct injection to its R8 Le Mans prototype in order to get more power while consuming less fuel. In racing reducing fuel consumption is important because it allows cars to run farther between pit stops spending more time on the track. Direct injection eventually migrated into most of Audi's production engines along with those from parent company Volkswagen. After adding direct injection to the Cayenne GTS and 2009 911, Porsche is now migrating that same technology back to its own race program. The Porsche RS Spyders debuted a new direct injected version of the 3.4L V8 two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio and won the LMP2 class. The output of the DI engine went from 476 hp to 503 hp while fuel consumption dropped. Porsche is not saying how much it went down, but they are evidently still developing the system and optimizing it. For example the engines now run extremely lean under light loads greatly reducing consumption in a manner that would not be possible with a port fuel injection system. In coming years we will be seeing virtually all gas engines migrating to direct injection.

[Source: Porsche]

We've been following the on-again, off-again news of the upcoming hybrid and diesel powertrain options on Porsche's Panamera, which is scheduled to go on sale starting next year. It seems that the hybrid is a lock and will be equipped with a 3.6-liter V6 engine offering 300 horsepower along with an extra hundred horsies from the electric motor. While that engine and motor combo will likely make the Porsche an extremely fast hybrid, rumor has it that the driver will be able to selectively choose how much power to extract from either power source. If this holds true, the Panamera hybrid sounds a heck of a lot more interesting today that it did just yesterday.

The other possible alternative powertrain for the Panamera is a diesel engine. While the Cayenne will get the 3.0L diesel engine from Audi, the Panamera could double that cylinder count by being bestowed with Audi's mammoth 6.0L V12 TDI, which punches out 500 horsepower along with an incredible 758 lb-ft of torque. In Audi's large Q7 SUV, that powerplant manages nearly 20 miles per gallon, and it should do considerably better in the low-slung Panamera if it indeed finds its way underhood. Expect all of these options to come at a high cost, as the normal six-cylinder Panamera is expected to fetch $127,000 and the higher spec. turbo V8 model will go for nearly $200 grand. Sounds like the upcoming four door Porsche hybrid will require very deep pockets.

[Source: Inside Line]

Click above for more shots of this Porsche 911 EV conversion

Sometimes, we find various electric vehicle conversions on eBay to share with our readers. In many cases, the cars are in pretty sorry condition and the work which was done is highly suspect. In the case of this 1973 Porsche 911, though, everything done to the vehicle has been well documented in an online diary. There are also over forty pictures of the completed vehicle including every single dent and paint scratch. Most impressive. The EV conversion was officially started in late '93 and officially finished in late '96. Three years went into the removal of the engine and its related bits along with the addition of a DC electric motor along with 96 volts of lead-acid batteries. A bit later, the voltage was increased to 120, which yielded almost ten miles of range. Yeah... that's bad.

The good news, if it could be called that, is that the brakes were and are dragging, which is not helping performance at all. With a little work and some new batteries, this Porsche EV could be back on the road and getting somebody to work. Take a look at all the pics in our gallery, read the entire diary here and see the car's dedicated website here. Thanks for the tip, Dustin!


[Source: eBay Motors]

We're still not sure if Porsche's first production hybrid model will be the Cayenne SUV or Panamera sedan but we do know what the Panamera hybrid logo will look like. Porsche has registered the logo and trademark for the Panamera hybrid with the EU agency that handles trade and design marks known as OHIM. The logo uses a similar script to the one that Porsche has used for several decades. The Panamera hybrid is expected to debut in late 2009. Like the prototype Cayenne hybrid Porsche showed in 2007, the sedan will pair up a Volkswagen 3.6L V6 with an electric drive motor. The motor is mounted at the rear axle and reportedly able to propel the vehicle on battery power alone at steady state speeds of 70 mph. Thanks to Christian for the tip!

[Source: Autoblog.it, via German Car Blog]

The battle over a proposed £25 Congestion Charge increase that would have been socked to big, dirty vehicles entering London is over. Porsche was the lead opponent of this fee increase, and announced the win on its Judicial Review website. I guess Porsche's huge PR campaign worked. Back when Ken Livingstone, who came up with the £25 congestion charge proposal, was still Mayor of London, the city announced that the majority was in favor of it. Porsche had other data.

The new mayor, Boris Johnson, was never in favor of the new C-Charge, so it's not a huge surprise that it's been scraped. He said he hopes the city will now institute a 'fairer and more effective' Congestion Charge. The agency responsible for the Congestion Charge, Transport for London, will now need to pay Porsche's legal bills. Porsche has said it will donate the money to Skidz, an anti-crime charity. h/t to TheRookie.

[Source: Porsche, What Car?, Times Online]

AutoWeek apparently has it on good authority that Porsche has plans for a diesel engine not just for its Cayenne Sport Utility, but also for its upcoming sedan, the Panamera. The Panamera will assuredly be getting a gasoline engine, perhaps mirroring the Cayenne's V6 and V8 options, and will also be equipped with an optional hybrid drivetrain which will likely feature the direct-injected 3.6 liter V6 engine. Porsche had been hesitant to offer an oil-burner in its range of sportscars, but perhaps the sedan would benefit from the increased fuel mileage a diesel engine would offer.

We don't know what diesel engine is slated for the Panamera, but the Cayenne will be getting a 3.0 liter turbo diesel V6 engine from Audi, so that seems a distinct possibility for the sedan as well. Porsche could also choose an Audi diesel V8 engine or even the Volkswagen diesel V10 or 6.0-liter Audi diesel V12 if they fit underhood. Also spinning in the rumormill are Focus-like fender vents and a targa top.

[Source: Autoweek]

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Porsche 911

Stopping an engine when it's not necessary for the operation of the car seems like a common sense move when fuel efficiency and emissions are the main concern. When performance is the biggest priority, though, the added weight and complexity of a stop-start system might not be worth it, at least not for drivers interested in the Porsche 911. Instead, Porschephiles would prefer that their sports cars remain as pure as possible, which means a powerful but conventional flat-six engine at the rear of the vehicle. That said, Porsche does intend to a good number of PDK dual-clutch transmissions as opposed to the traditional three-pedal setup, which seems contrary to the mission of a pure drivers car. Porsche also looks to improve overall efficiency by reducing the weight of its Boxster and 911.

On the other hand, stop-start technology seems like a no-brainer for less-sporty vehicles like the Cayenne and the upcoming Panamera, which are also likely to be given a full hybrid drivetrain as an option. Diesels, long the bane of the Porsche aficionado, are also in the works for upcoming Porsche models.

[Source: CAR via Autoblog]

The on again/off again story of whether the Porsche Cayenne will get a diesel engine seems to be back on again this week. Automotive News Europe is again reporting that a diesel-powered Porsche SUV is set to debut in March 2009. As previously reported, the Cayenne will use the VW group's 3.0L V6 TDI that is also coming to the U.S. late this year in the Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg. The 240hp diesel has an ample torque output of 369 lb-ft which is more than enough to motivate the Q7 and should have no problem in the smaller Cayenne. Audi, of course, is part of the Volkswagen group which Porsche has been steadily taking over. Previous reports suggested that the Porsche SUV, which was co-developed with Volkswagen's Touareg, might get a more powerful version of the engine. However industry insiders expect the engine to carry over from Ingolstadt (Audi's headquarters) to Stuttgart (Porsche's) largely unchanged. Porsche executives that have previously stated that a diesel engine would be out of character for a Porsche clearly have forgotten how out of character the Cayenne remains to this day. In the Cayenne, the diesel V6 should be able to achieve real world mileage numbers in mid-20s with ease.

[Source: Automotive News sub. req'd]

Over the last year or so, Porsche has been grabbing chunks of Volkswagen, slowly but surely. It is clear what the German manufacturer of luxurious sportscars is attempting: a takeover of VW, which is the largest automaker in Germany. There are still laws and regulations standing it its way, but Porsche may have the backing of the European Union, which could have the power to change laws currently protecting Volkswagen from a takeover. It has long been assumed that Porsche's plan was to lump its products along with the more fuel efficient models from VW, which could allow the company to avoid paying large fines for not meeting carbon output regulations.

As it stands right now, Porsche seemingly has no choice but to offer more fuel efficient and lower emission models. To that end, it has announced hybrid versions of its Cayenne and upcoming Panamera sedan. Also possible is a diesel engine for its utility vehicle. By gobbling up Volkswagen, Porsche could dial back on these fuel-saving models and get back to its high performance ways without fear of excessive penalties.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req'd]

While Porsche has made it abundantly clear that they have no concerns about trying to meet new corporate average fuel economy standards in the U.S. in the coming decade, that doesn't mean that aren't doing anything to improve the fuel consumption of their cars. Relative to their performance, Porsche cars have always comparatively efficient anyway, with the current 2008 Carrera 2 coupe be being rated at 18mpg city/26mpg hwy. That's a lot better than most SUVs. That's actually better than a V6 Saturn Vue at 16/23mpg.

Nonetheless, in the quest for ever-increasing performance, Porsche has evolved the 911 once again for 2009. This year the fuel is injected directly into the combustion chambers instead of into the intake ports. As with other similar arrangements at other manufacturers, the benefit is both increased output while using less fuel to do it. Output of the 3.6 and 3.8L engines is now up 20 and 30 percent horsepower respectively. In combination with the the new 7 speed dual clutch gearbox, the fuel consumption of these updated drivetrains is reduced by 13 percent. Interestingly, Porsche first developed the dual clutch gearbox in the 1980s for the 962 race car but has never used it in a production model while numerous other manufacturers are now using that setup. Now if Porsche had instead cut the displacement and maintained the current power levels, the efficiency improvement likely would have topped 20 percent. After all, does cutting a couple of tenths of a second off the 0-60 time when you're already in the mid-4 second range really make any difference in the real world where most people driving these cars are posers anyway?

[Source: Porsche]

The issues that Porsche has had with legislation which would require it to meet the same strict fuel efficiency and emissions goals as economy car makers has been well documented. While Lamborghini has apparently decided that it should get a free pass considering how few vehicles it sells, Porsche would have a tough time with that argument now that it competes in so many market segments and makes so much profit. So, what options could the German purveyor of fine automobiles have to meet the demands of the governments? How about Porsche-fying smaller, more efficient vehicles from other manufacturers under the same umbrella? According to German mag Autobild, that may be exactly what Porsche is considering. Based on a Volkswagen Golf, the new Porsche hatchback would reportedly be ready for the 2012 model year. Perhaps a Porsche-tuned version of the Scirocco would be a better option. Remember, though, that VW and Porsche have worked together on other models in the past. We have no idea if this rumor is even remotely accurate, but we can hear the cries coming from Porsche-lovers already.

[Source: Motive Forums via German Car Blog]

The way the draft rules have been defined for the new Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard, Porsche is at a distinct disadvantage. Because the standards for any given vehicle are based on the size of the vehicle, Porsche's relatively small cars have to meet a higher standard than other manufacturers. Apparently Porsche doesn't really care. Detlev von Platen the new CEO of Porsche Cars North America has declared that the German sports car (and SUV) builder will not downsize its vehicles or engines and will not use diesel engines. Porsche doesn't plan to change the high performance nature of its vehicles according to von Platen, although they will increase the fuel efficiency of those vehicles. The Cayenne SUV and the upcoming Panamera four door will both get a new hybrid powertrain that will be shared with Volkswagen and Audi. However, the Cayenne hybrid won't appear until at least late 2010. Porsche has managed to increase the fuel economy of its vehicles to the point that none of the current models are subject to the gas guzzler tax and last year the company average was high enough to avoid a CAFE fine. Going forward that will almost certainly change as Porsche doesn't have any expectation of meeting the 41.3mpg average the new draft rules would impose on the company by 2015.

[Source: Autoweek]

click screen grab to enlarge

The Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923. If you think this has nothing to do with green cars, you're mostly right. Today, though, it does, if only because someone (or a group of someones) has hacked into the news section of Porsche's Judicial Review website and posted a few messages in Turkish stating that the site has been hacked. I don't read Turkish, so I'm not certain what the hack says, exactly, but it doesn't seem to be the only time 1923Turk has struck. Right off the top of my head, I can't see any reason for pro-Turkey hackers to take aim at the ongoing dispute between Porsche and Transport for London's congestion charge (Forgot what this is about? Check out our previous posts here and here), but what do I know about haxors and their targets?

Speaking about the Porsche fight, the company announced today the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has applied to be an interested party in the judicial review against the £25 congestion charge. Read more after the break.

We don't want to take sides on London's Congestion Charge, but we are keenly interested in what the charge will mean for the environment and motorists. Ken Livingstone claims that the charge is intended to reduce congestion and CO₂ emissions while Porsche claims that the charges are unnecessarily high and unfair. New evidence that Porsche has located, though, indicates that CO₂ emissions will actually increase if the charges go into effect as planned. In fact, Porsche claims that the mayors office was aware of this report and chose not to release it.

The report, prepared for Transport for London by King's College London's Environmental Research Group, predicted that the charges would create a "very high disbenefit" not only for CO₂ but also for NOx, NO₂ and particulate matter. The reason cited for the increased emissions is that drivers will choose to drive around London instead of driving straight through, which would be a much shorter trip. London's emissions may drop, but the surrounding areas will be disproportionately hurt.

According to Andy Goss, Managing Director of Porsche Cars GB, "We always knew the environmental impact of this unfair tax would be minimal, now we know it will make matters worse. The Mayor and TfL need to explain why this report was not disclosed and why they want to increase taxes on motorists that will increase CO₂. It seems absolutely clear that the report shows that not only have Mayor Livingstone and TfL not presented all of the information to the public about the impact of his £25 charge, but that they have also created a new tax on motorists that will do the exact opposite of its stated goal." Read more of Porsche's response here.

[Source: Porsche]

Porsche has definitely been testing diesel-powered versions of the Cayenne SUV as evidenced by the recent spy shots of on filling up from a diesel pump in northern Sweden. However, that doesn't mean the Stuttgart-based high performance manufacturer has definitively decided to actually produce such a beast. Klaus Berning, Porsche's head of sales and marketing has said that a diesel Cayenne won't come to market unless it can be a sales success in the U.S. market. So far, there have only been a handful of light duty diesels available and none at all in some of the biggest markets like California. Later this year a flood of new clean diesels will start hitting the market in all fifty states including the new VW Jetta TDI, a trio of Mercedes SUVs and the BMW X5 and 335d. Early next year, the Cayennes cousins - the VW Touareg and Audi Q7 - will join the party with a 3.0L V-6 TDI. Porsche will be closely watching the U.S. market acceptance of all these new models and if American drivers take to them in significant numbers, Porsche will move forward. Since the U.S. is the largest market for the Cayenne, if diesel sales are lackluster, Porsche will likely just hold off until the hybrid is ready for market. If the Q7 TDI I drove for the last few days is any indication, torque loving Americans will snap them up.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. req'd]