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Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Videos, Porsche, Luxury Click above to view the video after the jump Porsche has been on a bit of roll with its advertisements. The 'Roots in Racing. Not posing.' spot said it all and the recently released Family Tree ad for the Panamera makes a case to purists that the automaker's first production sedan is indeed a proper Porsche. To pull it off, Porsche trotted out 50 different models from its storied past, 22 professional drivers, 160 crew members, a supporting cast of camera vehicles (Cayennes, natch) and a duo of helicopter pilots to provide those gorgeous overheads shots. All of it was orchestrated by Radical Media's Jeff Zwart, the same man behind last year's Hyundai Genesis Coupe Super Bowl spots. It's an impressive look behind the scenes and you can check out both the making of video and the results after the jump. Gallery: 2010 Porsche PanameraContinue reading Video: The making of the Porsche Panamera Family Tree adVideo: The making of the Porsche Panamera Family Tree ad originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Performance, SUV, Geneva Motor Show, Europe, Porsche, Luxury, Off-RoadGuilty pleasure admission time. We love the Porsche Cayenne.Yes, yes, it's an affront to the brand, a visual catastrophe and has as much to do with a sports car as does a cantaloupe. We get all that. Now, may we explain why we love the Cayenne? Because we've taken one (or three) off road. Whoa. Here's a car that can run an autocross neck-and-neck with a Subaru WRX, yet then wander off and embarrass Jeeps with the twist of a knob. It's perplexingly fantastic. How could we not love it? That said, there have long been rumors that the next-generation Cayenne (which could debut at next month's Geneva Motor Show) will lose its off-road mastery. The thinking was, no one takes the dang things off the pavement anyway, so why not just ditch the heavy, expensive off-road bits and turn the Cayenne into a proper crossover? Makes sense, no matter which way you slice it. But back to the perplexing part part of the Cayenne equation - Porsche's SUV has never been about making sense. Case in point, Autocar is reporting that the next Cayenne is going to be much more hardcore when the black top ends. In fact, the lucky Autocar dogs got to tag along with the Cayenne development team in the United Arab Emirates. Specifically, going up and down a 300-foot tall sand dune called 'Big Red.' In fact, so capable is the new Cayenne, the Turbo version was able to climb said Big Red at 30 mph four times in a row before the rear-diff overheated and refused to lock. Said the head of Cayenne development Rolf Frech, "These are extreme conditions and eventually something had to give." What's going to be different about the new Cayenne? It's wheelbase is longer by about two inches, solely to provide more leg room in the back seat. The new Cayenne's also lighter - way lighter - close to 450 pounds lighter as a matter of fact. Figure on 4,500 pounds or so total, depending on the engine. How'd Porsche do that? Lots and lots of aluminum replacing heavy steel, specifically in the hood, doors, axles and front bumper. Porsche is also dropping the Cayenne's transfer-case, instead relying on fancy electronics to get the Cayenne into and out of the worst of it. If Autocar is to be believed, losing the low gears isn't costing the Cayenne a thing. Structurally, there's a whole lot of Panamera super-sedan making its way into the new Cayenne, but we're not sure what - yet. We do know that the fancy-pants seven-speed PDK (dual-clutch) transmission from the Panamera can't cope with the low-speed rock crawling essential to the Cayenne, so it's been dumped in favor of an eight-speed automatic. As far as engines go, expect more of the same. There will be a 300-ish horsepower V6, a 400-ish hp V8, a 500 hp Turbo V8 (0-60 mph should take around 4.5 seconds) and a not-coming-to-America diesel. There will also be a hybrid variant that should get 30 mpg, make around 400 hp and compete nicely with the BMW X6 ActiveHybrid in the bizarro world of gas/electric luxury SUVs. Color us extremely interested. [Source: Autocar]Autocar gets early crack at next Porsche Cayenne, finds improved off-roading, less weight originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: By the NumbersToyota Motor Company falls 16%, FoMoCo up 25% How do you know if a recall has affected your sales? If you find yourself below the Chrysler Group in sales performance. That's exactly what happened to Toyota Motor Company in January 2010, as the early effects of its sticking pedal recall sank sales 16 percent versus the same month last year. And the recall was only announced on January 21, directly affecting only about a third of the month's selling days. We'll be watching closely to see if Toyota can recover those lost sales in February, which may depend on the outcome of two House hearings scheduled to investigate how its recalls have been handled. Ford Motor Company, meanwhile, continues to ride a wave of positive press and industry accolades to higher sales. Its group rose sales some 25 percent last month to beat all auto-making companies. Sales for the Ford brand itself rose 26 percent by volume alone. General Motors also has something to smile about, as Chevrolet roared back with sales up 36 percent and sales overall (including non-core brands that are still clearing out inventory) that jumped 14 percent. Perhaps the single most surprising result is Kia, which for months has stood atop the sales performance charts with fellow Korean brand Hyundai and Subaru. While those two continued their winning ways, up 24 and 28 percent respectively, Kia sales remained flat. That said, there were only 24 selling days in January 2010 versus 26 in January 2009, so Kia did sell more vehicles per day in January than it did last year. Brand Vol % January 2010 January 2009 DSR* % DSR 1/10 DSR 1/09 Mercedes-Benz 45.29 15,158 10,433 57.40 632 401 Buick 44.37 10,061 6,969 56.40 419 268 Volvo 41.86 4,128 2,910 53.68 172 112 Volkswagen 41.39 18,019 12,744 53.17 751 490 Audi 37.87 6,510 4,722 49.35 271 182 Chevrolet 36.42 105,294 77,186 47.78 4,387 2,969 Subaru 28.02 15,611 12,194 38.69 650 469 Ford 25.93 99,888 79,322 36.42 4,162 3,051 Hyundai 24.44 30,503 24,512 34.81 1,271 943 Nissan 19.44 55,861 46,769 29.39 2,328 1,799 Lincoln 15.51 7,036 6,091 25.14 293 234 GMC 11.42 21,303 19,120 20.70 888 735 Mini 7.93 2,247 2,082 16.92 94 80 Porsche 7.72 1,786 1,658 16.70 74 64 BMW 7.61 13,163 12,232 16.58 548 470 Mercury 5.77 5,482 5,183 14.58 228 199 Lexus 5.40 15,517 14,722 14.18 647 566 Land Rover 4.37 1,958 1,876 13.07 82 72 Mazda 1.78 15,694 15,420 10.26 654 593 Dodge 0.50 19,953 19,853 8.88 831 764 Kia 0.12 22,123 22,096 8.47 922 850 Cadillac -0.69 8,440 8,499 7.58 352 327 Chrysler -2.26 10,443 10,685 5.88 435 411 Honda -4.48 60,347 63,175 3.48 2,514 2,430 Infiniti -5.68 6,711 7,115 2.18 280 274 Jeep -6.65 15,715 16,834 1.13 655 647 Acura -9.22 7,132 7,856 -1.65 297 302 Mitsubishi -11.84 4,170 4,730 -4.49 174 182 Toyota -18.80 83,279 102,565 -12.04 3,470 3,945 Jaguar -19.21 631 781 -12.47 26 30 Ram -25.38 11,032 14,785 -19.17 460 569 Suzuki -44.19 2,040 3,655 -39.53 85 141 Saab -46.49 511 955 -42.03 21 37 Hummer -78.31 265 1,222 -76.51 11 47 Smart -84.35 278 1,776 -83.04 12 68 Saturn -90.89 562 6,172 -90.14 23 237 Pontiac -95.73 389 9,104 -95.37 16 350 Companies Ford Motor Company 24.63 116,534 93,506 35.01 4,856 3,596 Nissan NA 16.12 62,572 53,884 25.80 2,607 2,072 General Motors 13.62 146,825 129,227 23.09 6,118 4,970 BMW Group 5.77 15,140 14,314 14.58 631 551 Jaguar Land Rover -2.56 2,589 2,657 5.56 108 102 American Honda -5.00 67,479 71,031 2.92 2,812 2,732 Chrysler Group -8.07 57,143 62,157 -0.41 2,381 2,391 Toyota Mo Co -15.77 98,796 117,287 -8.75 4,117 4,511 *Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 24 selling days in January 2010 and 26 selling days in January 2009, so the change in monthly sales volume will be less than the change in the average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company.By the Numbers - January 2010: Total Recall Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Design/Style F1 chair by Alexander Christoff - Click above for image gallery Tell us if this sounds familiar: you're sitting in your lounge chair, maybe watching a race or playing a driving simulator on your gaming console, but in your head you're in a car. What may sound ridiculous or downright childish to some piques the interest of the race fan and car nut. The Autoblog Fantasy Living Room already includes coffee tables made from Shelby Cobras and engine blocks, sofas from Porsches and Aston Martins, and even a handful of chairs made to emulate car buckets. But this one takes the prize. Designed by Bulgarian interior designer Alexander Christoff, this chair is made from ergonomically molded fiberglass with chrome legs and an upholstered adjustable head rest to look like the closest approximation of an F1 car in lounge-chair form we've seen yet. No word on availability or cost, but if you remember that whole supply and demand thing, anything's possible. Also, is it just us, or can you picture this chair talking like the crab in the Honda Element ads from a few years ago? Okay, maybe it's just us... carry on. Gallery: F1 chair by Alexander Christoff [Source: Behance]From Bulgaria to the Autoblog Living Room: the Ultimate F1 Chair originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Europe, BMW, Luxury 2011 BMW Alpina B7 - click above for high-res image gallery Problem: BMW will not make a M7. Despite making the M5 Wagon and the X6 M, the boys from Bavaria want know part of the Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG, S65 AMG, Audi S8, (soon) Jaguar XJR, Porsche Panamera Turbo or Bentley Flying Spur Speed market. Odd, yes, especially from the company that discovered a new segment between the 5 Series wagon and the X5. Anyhow, no M7 for you. Solution: the Alpina B7, as its an M7 in everything but name. Some of you might want to argue the point that no way is the Alpina B7 good enough to wear a vaunted M badge. To which we say... you might have a point. So think of it as the 750CSI. Either way, this here new Alpina B7 is going to be a pretty worthy competitor to all them big, fancy super sedans up above. Here's why. From the outside the changes include front and rear fascias and spoilers that not only set the B7 apart from lesser 7 Series but are functional. The front spoiler provides 30% more downforce while the rear tacks on an additional 15%. Not only that, but the front spoiler provides specific cooling to new transmission and oil coolers. Also impossible to miss are the 20-spoke, 21-inch Alpina wheels. Inside nearly every surface gets covered with hand-stitched "Lavalina" leather (whatever that might be) and Alpina badges. The areas not swathed in Lavalina get treated with Alcantara. There's also a heated steering wheel and illuminated blue Aplina door sills. Of course, what's underneath matters most. Specifically the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 gets pumped up to 500 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque (as opposed to the 750i's 400 hp and 450 pounds of twist). The press release notes that all that torque is, "available across an unusually broad engine range, from 3,000 to 4,750 rpm," which is either wool-over-the-eyes PR hype, or a typo. We'll go with typo, as the regular strength 750i makes its 450 pound-feet from 1,800 to 4,500 rpm. Either way, the Alpina B7 can hit 60 mph in 4.5 seconds. And now, the kicker: the short wheelbase B7 costs $122,875 and the extended wheelbase B7 will set you back $126,775. Both prices are before the $875 destination fee. Press release after the jump. Gallery: 2011 BMW Alpina B7 [Source: BMW]Continue reading 2011 BMW Alpina B7 comes in two spicy, pricy flavors2011 BMW Alpina B7 comes in two spicy, pricy flavors originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments