It may seem like Rinspeed has been hitting the Absinthe bottle with its recent spate of far reaching concepts, but the Swiss tuner might be looking to another green libation for inspiration of its line of 957 Porsche Cayenne parts.

Despite stealing Mountain Dew’s 1998 ad campaign when naming its modified Cayenne, the X-treme’s parts list proves that it’s more than just a tuning package for poseurs. Bigger air intakes, a new front fascia, front splitter, rear bumper, side skirts and flared wheel arches make the already imposing Cayenne more so. The rolling stock, consisting of 23×11-inch wheels wrapped in 315/25R23 rubber, is nestled within wheel arches that have been dropped by 35mm through a modified air suspension setup.

While a custom exterior and bespoke interior bits are nice, they’ve got to match the motivation. According to Rinspeed, it’s boosted the output of the Cayenne to 600 hp through the use of a custom sports exhaust. Although Rinspeed didn’t go into detail about how its achieving that number, we’d assume that some significant tweaks were made to the Porsche Turbo’s ECU.

Source[AutoBlog]

Porsche came out swinging at the LA Auto Show with a Cayenne Hybrid it said could do 75 MPH on battery power alone. Now the carmaker isn’t sure it wants to fight that fight any more. Speaking of hybrid market share, Porsche’s head of distribution said, “The most optimistic forecast still only calls for a market share of 5 percent.” And in that case, Porsche feels it might not be worth it to bring out a Cayenne Hybrid until the introduction of the next generation in 2010.

They would then use that model as the litmus test for other hybrids. The Panamera might get a hybrid variant in 2011 — two years after its introduction — or it might not happen until 2013. In fact, since Porsche still has no firm date set for getting a hybrid to market, all of these dates could be pushed back indefinitely. Contrast that with Audi, which wants to introduce a hybrid Q7 by the end of 2008.

[Source: Autoblog]

Porsche is producing 256 911 GT3 Cup cars for wealthy privateers to campaign in the 2008 season Mobil1 Supercup, Carrera Cup and GT3 Cup Challenge. The new GT3 Cup is a yet another evolution of the model, producing 420 HP from its 3.6-liter flat-six and expelling spent hydrocarbons through a competition-spec exhaust. Power is routed through a sequential six-speed ‘box with a 5.5-inch three-plate clutch, oil/water heat exchanger and single mass flywheel allowing drivers to rip through the ratios while keeping the long pedal planted to the floorboard. Weight has been reduced to 2491 pounds through the use of carbon fiber and reinforced plastic door panels, boot lid and rear body panels, along with ceramic composite brakes. Sachs dampers and double coil springs keep things planted around the road course, and allow for infinite adjustability of height, camber and track.

All the techy tidbits are available in the press release after the jump.

Source[AutoBlog]

Squeezing 480 HP from a 3.6L flat-six is an impressive feat, and the latest 911 Turbo does it with a level of sophistication, refinement, and reliability that would have been thought impossible just a few years ago. Everything is relative, though, and “more” is always the operative word when it comes to Porsche’s GT2. So, how does one squeeze fifty additional ponies from an such a powerplant? Considering all the different challenges – emissions, durability, drivability, and fuel economy – it’s certainly not an easy task. Fortunately, Porsche has no small amount of experience squeezing more power from turbocharged boxers, and that knowledge was put to good use on the new 2008 GT2.

Source[AutoBlog]

The introduction of the Porsche Cayman S was met with equal parts reverence and revilement, with many criticizing Porsche’s midship masterpiece as being underpowered despite a chassis that was begging for more oomph. While tuners have been swapping larger engines from the top-of-the-line 911 into the Cayman, its doubtful that Porsche’s pencil pushers would risk cannibalizing sales of its 40-year old flagship. However, the idea of making an RS-version of the Cayman may be on the horizon, as this newest spy shot reveals.

The next generation Cayman – likely to be unveiled in Geneva – will feature a few minor changes keeping with Porsche’s long-held tradition of slowly evolving the breed. But a lightweight, track-friendly edition might also be available in the near future. The shot above shows a new Cayman (note the drawn down headlamps) undergoing testing, with a roll cage mounted aft of the two front seats. Could it be a Club Sport version? Hopefully we’ll find out in a few months.

[Source: AutoBlog]

For the last race of the ALMS season at Laguna Seca, the P1, P2, and GT1 championships had already been wrapped up since Petit Le Mans. Still, the Audi team was out to better the Penske camp for the second race in a row after a close victory at Petit Le Mans. GT2 was the most exciting class, with the driver, team, and manufacturer championships all up for grabs. Risi Competizione came in as a heavy favorite, needing only to finish 70 percent of the race to clinch the team title.

Spoiler Alert: Follow the jump to read what went down.

[Souce: AutoBlog]

The factory-backed Porsche RS Spyders of Penske Racing have been leading the ALMS LMP2 class and even captured some overall victories this year. In the competing (well, kinda) Grand Am series, the official Porsche engine in the Daytona Prototype class is a 3.8-liter flat-six. The Spirit of Daytona team, however, wants to take a different approach.

It had the Lozano Brothers build a five-liter race-prepped version of the Cayenne V8 that they intend to debut at the series finale at Miller Motorsports Park on Sept. 15. Since Porsche hasn’t officially approved the project, it won’t allow the team to carry Porsche badging on the engine. Instead, the car will be labeled a Fabcar-Cayenne in its first run.

[Source: AutoWeek]