Winter driving tips

How to Cope with Driving in the Winter If you’ve woken up to discover the roads of New York are completely snow-covered but you have to get in the car, then what do you do? The arrival of winter often means streets are covered in snow, ice is on the highways and low visibility is common if you’re caught in a snowstorm. In some regions, it can become especially challenging to drive safely in bad weather, but that doesn’t mean you can’t drive your Porsche in the winter. Although the weather might slow us down, it’s not impossible to carry on regardless, it just helps if you’re better prepared. What you need to do to prepare for driving in snow Learning how to deal with driving on ice or on a snowy road is difficult as these kind of skills can only be learnt through experience. Remaining in control of your vehicle while you car starts to skid or slide can be tricky so it’s a good idea to learn how to achieve maximum efficiency of your anti lock brakes, before you end up in an emergency situation. This is particularly true as the older we get, the more our bodies are slower to react. For example, before getting into a car consider the driving risks involved as a pensioner or if you have a health problem. What your car needs to have for the snow To be as safe as possible for driving in extreme conditions, most luxury automakers offer all-wheel drive along with features for traction control for those times when grip becomes minimal. In addition, ensure your tires are in excellent condition and have at least a 6/32-inch deep tread in order to have adequate snow traction; preferably you should change to four snow tires, rather than just two of them. What you need to have for your car Whatever kind of car you have, a winter car kit is crucial to keep inside the trunk, just in case to do get stuck somewhere! This should include: a snow shovel and preferably some sand (or even cat litter) so you can dig yourself out of a situation if necessary; in addition, carry a blanket, flashlight and snow scraper so you’ve got every angle covered. Before winter even sets in, check the battery power and antifreeze levels. Nowadays, luxury cars are expected to have it all: comfort, performance and technology which includes all-weather capabilities so most will do a great job of navigating snow-covered roads. However, when treacherous weather prevails, it’s often best just to stay at home.

Porsche Says Enough Horsepower Wars—500 Is Ample

It seems that Porsche is calling for an end to the never-ending horsepower war, stating that continuous increases are unsustainable in the interest of daily driver comforts. Does that mean that companies should save their main muscle flexing for the track? Porsche GT-car leader Andreas Preuninger shared in an interview that “I’m not a believer in this horsepower monster, up, up, up, more, more, more. For my personal tastes, around 500 horsepower is enough, because 700-800 horsepower calls for bigger brakes, sturdier suspension. It gets heavier and heavier logically.” read more

Porsche Objects to Aston Martin GT3 Name–Legally

Aston Martin GT3

It is a challenging business to name a vehicle, as Aston Martin and many others have learned the hard way over the years. Porsche has taken a legal stand against Aston Martin due to the name of their recent offering, the Aston Martin GT3. Porsche is arguing that the GT3 label belongs to them and that Aston Martin has no rights to tack it onto their Vantage. The confusion continues because the FIA GT3 racing category has existed for years.

Porsche took a legal stand against Aston Martin for using the GT3 nameplate.  read more

Porsche Plans to Remain Exclusive Even as Demand Rises

Porsche

Luxury automaker Porsche plans to remain an exclusive brand, even as demand for its products continues to rise. This is a hot issue in the industry, as those with the funds and desire can be shot down when attempting to purchase because the brand only produces a certain amount annually, sometimes with special restrictions to the purchasers.

Ferrari is known for maintaining a similar approach, favoring the exclusive nature of its beast to mass production. After all, if many people were rolling around in an exotic sports car like a Ferrari or a Porsche, the special factor would begin to dissipate and it would be as exciting to see as a Ford Focus on the streets. Porsche is not completely set on all of its offerings staying exclusive, however, as is seen by burgeoning sales of the Cayenne and Macan SUV units and perhaps its more modestly priced underlings. But for the foreseeable future, the top-of-the-line Porsche sports cars will remain quite out of reach for just anyone. read more

Each Porsche Sold Nets Bigger Profit for VW than Lamborghini

Porsche

For those curious about which brands reap the most profit for the enormous being that is VW Group, it is not Lamborghini or Bentley. For every Porsche exotic sports car sold, VW nets a killer $23k profit. Not too shabby, eh?

The news was revealed via Volkswagen Group’s 2013 financial report, showing that Porsche is enjoying an operating margin of a fat 18 percent. Close behind Porsche’s sales success was Bentley followed by Audi (which was combined with Lamborghini). This is all good news for the VW Group, which loses millions on each Bugatti Veyron sale. It was recently estimated that they lose approximately $6 million on each Veyron model sold. That certainly sounds painful considering that the Bugatti Veyron sells for $1 million and up. Now we can get a better grasp on why so many “Special edition Bugatti Veyron” models continue to be made and sold for astronomical amounts. read more