Lamborghini Rotus Extreme

Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Porsche, Design/Style 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder - Click above for high-res image gallery When we look at the 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder rap sheet, it's hard not go get a bit excited. It looks seriously terrific, it weighs but 2,811 pounds, and it packs 320 mid-mounted ponies. Good stuff. When we spent some time behind the wheel of the Spyder, we fell more than deeply in love with this, the purest of Boxsters. If only automotive super-journo Dan Neil agreed. Neil's review of the Boxster Spyder in The Wall Street Journal falls somewhere short of glowing prose - in fact, it's about 500 miles short of glowing and a mere six inches past poor. The Pulitzer prize-winning author pans the Spyder's top as beyond difficult (we called it "trick"). Okay, so a convertible top that was designed to save 46 pounds is probably going to shape up as less than ideal (Neil: "Find me the guy who designed the canvas top. Bring me his head on a platter"), but if Neil thinks this top is Erector Set hell, he should get his hands on a Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster. Anything else wrong here? Well, there's the power for starters. Neil feels the Spyder's 320 horses are hamstrung by 273 pound-feet of torque that can only be best accessed when pushing the flat-six hard. And then there is the six-speed manual transmission, which Neil feels is inferior in every way to the PDK dual-clutch tranny ("Those purists out there still clinging to your six-speed manuals, please go home. Your black-and-white TV is on the fritz."). So... is the Boxster Spyder God's gift to lightweight roasters or is it a reason to fire the engineers who designed this Porsche's lightweight top? We know Dan - he's a swell guy and one hell of a writer, but even though we're decidedly short on Pulitzers, we can't help but think that to slate the Spyder for not being a great everyday car is to miss its point altogether. Factory lightweight specials like this one are always a bit silly for street use, always ask for more concessions of their drivers, and, if they're German, they always cost a bunch more, too. And yet... we'd still rock the top Boxster any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Oh, and we're just fine with the three-pedal setup, thanks - like seemingly every dual clutch gearbox, the PDK still has lousy low-speed drivability - and you can call us hopeless romantics, but when it's not about chalking up lap times, we still love to row our own gears. Head over to the WSJ to read Neil's scathing review for yourself. Gallery: First Drive: 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder Photos by Michael Harley / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc. [Source: The Wall Street Journal - sub. req.]Unlikely Ire: Dan Neil excoriates 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Aftermarket, Convertible, Europe, Fiat Fiat 500C Sardinia by Romeo Ferraris - Click above for high-res image gallery When you think of Italian cars, some of the images that come to mind might be of graceful cabrios gliding along picturesque coastlines. Thing is, short of exotica from Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini or Pagani, the only Italian convertibles currently on offer are the Alfa Spider and Fiat 500C. As gorgeous as it is, the Alfa is on its way out, leaving the Fiat to fend for itself in the meantime. Romeo Ferraris apparently thought the sprightly 500C could use a little jazzing up, so it's released this limited-edition special. The 500C Sardinia, as it's called, will be limited to just 50 examples. Paying homage to Italy's Emerald Coast, it's decked out in green paint with gold accents and sand-colored cloth roof. The interior is likewise trimmed in the light beige, the leather covers everything short of the dashboard, which gains an innovative cork treatment, and the emerald green floormats to match the exterior. Unfortunately, unlike some of Romeo Ferraris' more extreme performance conversions, the Sardinia's are largely limited to a dual-tip exhaust and 16-inch split-spoke alloys. Have a closer look in the gallery below. Gallery: Fiat 500C Sardinia by Romeo Ferraris [Source: OmniAuto.it]Fiat 500C Sardinia by Romeo Ferraris is an ode to Italy's Emerald Coast originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments