ranger22

Was thinking one of the boss variants dropped the rear seats.

GrantG

Yes, Laguna Seca had big X-brace where the seats were. There may be a similar version of the GT350 to share this, but doubt the base version will.

GSIRM3

I think you're on to something here.

GrantG

I agree. Porsche can only rest on its laurels (and badge) to a certain degree. It's ok for Porsche to charge more for equal perfomance (or to charge much more for more performance), but it's not really a sustainable business model to charge much more for less performance.

Guest89

"We" always say that and Porsche continues not really caring about our contingent. They care much, MUCH more about the Macan than they do about an "enthusiast" derivative of their worst-selling car IMO.

Witness: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...o-you-no-good/

GSIRM3

Sadly, I think you are correct. Fortunately, there are options out there.

Petevb

It's interesting to consider... How would a Cayman with 340 hp, 4 wheel drive and PDK be selling if they priced it at 49.9k? Because that's the base Macan's spec, and they throw in an extra 1000 lbs of glass, steel, leather and aluminum for free... So it's Porsche's worst selling car why?

ipse dixit

I'm not sure that performance can always be measured or tallied by raw numbers or comparative metrics.

There is something to be said about driving experience, and the overall feel and visceral sensation a car provides when you're driving it (see: PDK v. 7MT debate).

If it was always about 0-60 times, or 1/4 mile trap speeds, etc., then I think cars like the Corvette, some of the AMG iterations like the C63, and even the earlier editions of the M3, might have been classified as better "performers" vis-a-vis the 911.

But the 911, at least for me, has always been something more than the sum of all of its parts. As expensive as those parts may be. And maybe I've drunk too much Stuttgart Kool-Aid but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

wanna911

Road and Track says the Mustang revs to 8200 RPM.

Yikes!

GrantG

I absolutely agree. However, in my mind, Porsche has been diluting those subjective aspects of driving enjoyment with things like electric steering and PDK-only.

And the competition has been drastically improving on those subjective aspects.

So, the subjective advantage is shrinking for Porsche, the outright performance advantage for Porsche is shrinking (or worse), and the pricing gulf is only widening. Not a great trend from where I sit.

GrantG

If true, that means the motor should be able to make around 115 hp/L (a C2S with X51 makes nearly that with a 7,800 rpm redline) which would put it at 600 hp

Probably gonna be a bit less in reality, but still formidable.

85Gold

Congrats Tal,

You can be my test mule for 2nd year purchase.

Peter

Petevb

The engine is based on the Coyote V8, which has a long stroke of 92.7 mm. It should barely be able to spin to 8200 if they use really good parts, possibly Ti rods, etc, but this won't be cheap. The resulting piston speed of 25.3 M/S is up there with the GT3, etc, but the bore to stroke ratio will mean it can't breath as well. The Audi RS5 achieved 105 hp/ liter from a similar stroke and RPM, thus I'd suggest ~546 hp is a more likely upper limit, with closer to 500 more likely. I expect a nice wide power band up top that will mean it's very usable power...

GrantG

I thought it was a clean-sheet design. Where does the extra 250cc come from (bore, stroke, or both)? At a minimum we know it has a new crank, so dimensions cannot be assumed - unless you are saying the cylinder walls are nearing their limits.

GrantG

According to Ford's own website, redline is only 8k (might be lowered to reduce warranty claims). Or this could be preliminary text, subject to change.

http://www.ford.com/cars/mustang/fea...#page=Feature4