Porsche

Fans of turbocharged Porsches have reason to celebrate. Fans of manual transmissions have reason to mourn. A single car is responsible for both. Porsche debuted the long-awaited Turbo and Turbo S variants of its 911 sports car Friday. PHOTOS: Porsche's 911 Turbo and Turbo S models break cover In addition to a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter six-cylinder engine and all-wheel-drive, both cars will only be available with a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission. No manual transmission will be available.

Fans of turbocharged Porsches have reason to celebrate. Fans of manual transmissions have reason to mourn. A single car is responsible for both. Porsche debuted the long-awaited Turbo and Turbo S variants of its 911 sports car Friday. PHOTOS: Porsche's 911 Turbo and Turbo S models break cover In addition to a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter six-cylinder engine and all-wheel-drive, both cars will only be available with a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission. No manual transmission will be available.

On a quiet street in a commercial section of Irvine, Aria Group builds an over-the-top array of vehicles: concept cars destined for auto shows, custom Porsche replicas, functional movie props. And now, maybe their wildest offering yet: the Warthog. The name will sound familiar to anyone who's played "Halo" on Microsoft's Xbox gaming console. The Warthog is a massive open-topped, all-terrain vehicle -- a mashup of dune buggy and monster truck -- that players navigate through a futuristic, first-person shooter landscape.  Photos: a real-life "Halo" Warthog Built on the chassis of a Hummer H1, this real-life Warthog is almost 8 feet high, more than 8 feet wide and more than 17 feet long.

A suspect who led authorities on a chase in a stolen Porsche Cayenne at speeds of more than 100 mph was captured Friday in West Los Angeles after he jumped from the rolling vehicle and ran. The man began the chase after officers from the LAPD's Topanga division spotted the stolen SUV about 11:20 a.m. and attempted to stop it, said Richard French, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department. The pursuit headed south on the 405 Freeway with the suspect reaching more than 100 mph while weaving in and out of fast-flowing traffic.

Twenty dollars says you can't tell us in what year this car was made. Actually, scratch that; $100 says you can't name the decade it's from. This is entirely the point of the car you see here, which was shown recently at the Specialty Equipment Market Assn. trade show by a Missouri company called Retrobuilt. What you're looking at is a brand-new Ford Mustang GT, powered by the Coyote 5.0-liter V-8 engine. Sitting on top of the donor car is a fiberglass body kit, designed to replicate the look of a 1969 Mustang Boss 302. To get the look, Retrobuilt fused fiberglass body panels to the existing rear quarter panels and door skins and then replaced the front fenders, hood and rear desk with fiberglass parts.

Base price: $97,350 (including destination) Price as tested: $126,750 Powertrain: 3.8-liter, DOHC, direct-injected, six-cylinder engine with variable valve timing; eight-speed dual-clutch transmission with paddle shifters Horsepower: 400 at 7,400 RPM Torque: 325 pound-feet at 5,600 RPM 0-60: 3.9 seconds Curb weight: 3,120 pounds Wheelbase: 96.46 inches Overall length: ...

Honda and Porsche dominated the 2013 Kelley Blue Book image awards, but Ford, Chrysler and Buick also earned top honors. The awards represent consumer views during a year's worth of visits to the Kelley Blue Book website, Chintain Talati, senior director of public relations for Kelley Blue Book, said in an interview. Talati added that the results represent the opinions of about 12,000 "in-market car shoppers who were visiting the website for research. " The awards cover luxury, non-luxury and truck brands.

It's nip-and-tuck time for Porsche's Pana mera sedan. A midlife refresh will give 2014 models an updated look, a long wheelbase option and new engine choices, including a turbocharged V-6 and a plug-in hybrid. All three variations will make their world debut April 21 at the Shanghai Auto Show. The greenest of the Panamera models makes a notable shift from hybrid to plug-in hybrid. Undoubtedly the byproduct of what the company is learning from the plug-in 918 supercar coming to market later this year , the Panamera announced Wednesday will be officially known as the Panamera S E-hybrid.

Porsche gave fans of natural aspiration something to cheer about at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, by unveiling the all new 911 GT3. The GT3 is the most powerful 911 variant Porsche makes that doesn't have the benefits of turbocharging. The company announced Monday that the 2014 GT3 will wring 475 horsepower and 324 pound-feet of torque from a 3.8-liter six-cylinder engine. Porsche says that although the engine in this fifth-generation GT3 is based on the one in the Carrera S, the two share "only a few common parts.

Porsche said it slightly increased its share in fellow German automaker Volkswagen, in which it plans to take a majority before the end of the year. Porsche Automobil Holding is Volkswagen's biggest shareholder and said last month that it had increased its stake to just over 35%. Spokesman Albrecht Bamler said Porsche bought additional Volkswagen shares off-market, "significantly under the current market price."

It's nip-and-tuck time for Porsche's Pana mera sedan. A midlife refresh will give 2014 models an updated look, a long wheelbase option and new engine choices, including a turbocharged V-6 and a plug-in hybrid. All three variations will make their world debut April 21 at the Shanghai Auto Show. The greenest of the Panamera models makes a notable shift from hybrid to plug-in hybrid. Undoubtedly the byproduct of what the company is learning from the plug-in 918 supercar coming to market later this year , the Panamera announced Wednesday will be officially known as the Panamera S E-hybrid.

Honda and Porsche dominated the 2013 Kelley Blue Book image awards, but Ford, Chrysler and Buick also earned top honors. The awards represent consumer views during a year's worth of visits to the Kelley Blue Book website, Chintain Talati, senior director of public relations for Kelley Blue Book, said in an interview. Talati added that the results represent the opinions of about 12,000 "in-market car shoppers who were visiting the website for research. " The awards cover luxury, non-luxury and truck brands.

SAN ANTONIO - The Mexican businessmen in Rolexes and Burberry ties meet on the north side of town, at Cielito Lindo Restaurant, or at new neighboring country clubs. Their wives frequent Neiman Marcus, Tiffany's and Brooks Brothers at the nearby mall. Their children park Porsches with Mexican license plates in the student lots at Reagan High School. They are part of a wave of legal Mexican immigrants who have been overlooked in the national debate over how to deal with their largely impoverished illegal compatriots.

Porsche gave fans of natural aspiration something to cheer about at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, by unveiling the all new 911 GT3. The GT3 is the most powerful 911 variant Porsche makes that doesn't have the benefits of turbocharging. The company announced Monday that the 2014 GT3 will wring 475 horsepower and 324 pound-feet of torque from a 3.8-liter six-cylinder engine. Porsche says that although the engine in this fifth-generation GT3 is based on the one in the Carrera S, the two share "only a few common parts.

The Porsche 911 was the highest-rated premium sporty car in the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Initial Quality Study, but some 2012 and 2013 versions of the car have a tailpipe that might fall off. Porsche is recalling 2,263 of its 2012-2013 model year 911 Carrera and Carrera 4 cars because of the problem with the exhaust pipe system. The German automaker said that the exhaust tailpipe on the cars might fracture and fall off the rear muffler. The recall affects cars that were equipped with standard (not sport)

Magnus Walker steps between the scarred carcasses of Porsche 911s lining his garage wall. He pauses and points to a gaping hole where the car's front hood should be. "Cars in here have to die," he says, "so others can live. " With a chest-length beard and finger-thick dreadlocks, the 45-year-old English immigrant doesn't look like a prototypical buttoned-down Porsche collector. But for more than a decade, Walker has worked in downtown L.A.'s arts district, transforming scrap heaps into one-off custom 911s, earning him the nickname "Urban Outlaw.

The Porsche 911 was the highest-rated premium sporty car in the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Initial Quality Study, but some 2012 and 2013 versions of the car have a tailpipe that might fall off. Porsche is recalling 2,263 of its 2012-2013 model year 911 Carrera and Carrera 4 cars because of the problem with the exhaust pipe system. The German automaker said that the exhaust tailpipe on the cars might fracture and fall off the rear muffler. The recall affects cars that were equipped with standard (not sport)

Several weeks ago, on a hot Monday afternoon in the Nevada desert some 50 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Porsche quietly gave a sneak peek at an all-new supercar project that will start production in a little less than a year's time. Past the freeway exit touting only a truck stop, a meandering road to nowhere and an eagle-eyed park ranger granting our group access to a gravel road, sat a parking lot containing two prototypes of Porsche's future. They were resting after a day of hot-weather testing by several of the lead engineers on the project.

Lexus, Porsche, Toyota and Lincoln had the best records in the 2013 J.D Power and Associates vehicle dependability study. In good news for car owners, the study found that overall, cars are becoming more reliable. Other top scorers included Buick, Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Acura. Land Rover scored the worst, with owners of its vehicles reporting problems at more than three times the rate of Lexus. The Dodge brand was the second worst and Mitsubishi third worst.  Other poor scorers included Jeep, Volkswagen and Jaguar.

In a key sign of a stronger economy, automakers posted a strong December to cap off the industry's best annual U.S. sales since 2007. The strong sales - Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Audi and Porsche all set annual U.S. sales records - led several encouraging economic reports out Thursday. The private sector grew by 215,000 jobs in December, boosted by solid gains in construction, professional services and trade and transportation, according to Automatic Data Processing.