Porsche owns VW now, I dont think we have to worry based on the profits they claimed this year so quickly.

 

So is that it, is the horsepower race finally over? The Eco's and PC sheeple of the world win again? Pretty soon it'll be illegal to own a big home too...too big of a "carbon footprint" I suppose.

Someone tell me again why I work so hard in life to have nicer things, own a business & support other families/the state/the country, and why should I contribute to the betterment of the human race when all I want out of life is a "supercar?"

 

My opinion is yes, its over. Not only will it become politically incorrect to drive high performance cars in coming years they will be very difficult for most companies to make. Porsche might be able to pull it off since they can use the Cayenne, VW's to offset the GT and TT projects. What will Lambo and Ferrari do? Make eco cars so their fleet meets Cafe standards? I just don't see a 500+ HP car making 35-40MPG.
You'll see better hybrid and electric technology and those first few high performance models will be very expensive.

There are already numerous towns across the country that have prevented anymore "big foot" developments. Try building in Birmingham, MI or Boulder, CO.

The answer of course is to buy preowned and I am sure the tuners will have a field day with the new 4 and 6 bangers that all of us will be forced to drive like the late 70s and 80s. Its going to get so much worse for the car business, this is just the beginning.

 

The intercooler intakes look like stickers and there are no intercooler exhaust grills on the rear bumper. Is this even a turbo or just a heavy camo'd 998 undergoing some kind of testing?

 

they won`t use the Mezger-block anymore due to efficiency and other standards and yes, there is a Turbo-S version in the pipeline, it will hit the market ~mid 2010.

as far as the horsepower race is concerned, i don`t think that sportscarfans should be worried too much. as long as they are able to accept new energy sources they will get what they want and i am sure that future 911s will be faster than previous generations. the only thing that could be a problem is the engine sound, but let´s be honest there are better sounding cars than the 997-TT on the market, so that´s not the most important reason to buy it.

 

I agree, I don't think it's even a turbo. Heavily cammo'd base model.

 

Looks physically smaller, which is a good thing. The 911 needs to get back down to the size of the original cars IMO.

 

European CO2 emission regulations are the big deal, as they cover the manufacturer's range as a whole (an average of 130g/km of CO2 by 2012).

That's why there's a new Cayenne with a VW/Audi diesel engine.

 

The intercooler intakes are fake and just stickers, that´s true. porsche probably learned from others. the current place of the intakes are not ideal. i guess the next 911-TT will have the intercooler intakes on top of the fender or at least somewhere, where they are more efficient. like the RUF-RT12 for example, to shorten the distance and avoid brake-heat along the way:

 

Huh? Uh-Uh, the older porsche were cramped like crazy. I drove a 930 at Road Atlanta once with Jenk 12m riding shotgun (obviously). I'm 6'1 220 and he's 6'4 220, we were pretty much touching shoulders while both of us had to tilt our head sideways. The new generations are much more suitable for bigger people. Besides, the wheelbases on the older models cant support the speeds the cars are going now. That's why it's always getting wider and wider.

 

I don't know man, I always loved the old 911s small and compact size, gave it that feeling of mechanical density. I'm actually looking for a '87-89 slantnose 930 right now, it was my '80s dream car.

 

i wouldn´t say it will be smaller. the next TT appears to be flatter and a bit longer as well, i expect it to have more space for rear passengers and also to better balanced because of the lower mass centre.
by the way, here are some new pictures:

 

Could this be a mid-engined car in disguise? Looks like more space between the end of the door and the rear wheel cutout than ususal.

 

Lambo has still got Audi to fall back on... Plus, aren't there talks of CAFE exempting various vehicles due to "performance prowess" and considered as a separate market? Correct me if I am wrong.

You could not be more right about the difficulty of building anything in Boulder.

 

I'm sure Ferrari and Lambo will find a way. If they arent making plans now then they might as well give up. Porsche has nothing to worry about either.

For the most part, the cafe laws are aimed at the VERY big boys, and that's who will get hit.


FWIW, though, no one thought Porsche would bring the fight to Ferrari in GT racing this year because they kept everything on the hush, but they came out and took their title back. Porsche will fight back on the ring, I'm sure of it. For the most part, all they need to do is test without traffic.