e-Brake News: 2017 Porsche Macan GTS: Driving Impressions

Published: Tue, 11/14/17

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eBrake News
November 14, 2017
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 PCA—My wife Helaine is convinced that the Macan GTS has the ability to bend spacetime. “We don’t really go any faster than normal, but we
seem to get where we’re going sooner,” she observed. I’m not sure about the precise physics or the Macan’s ability to create a wormhole on the way to my kids’ preschool, but the Macan GTS is absurdly fun for something that has so much usability/practicality baked in.
 
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PCA—A popular PCA member benefit is The Mart, the club’s classifieds section online and in each issue of Porsche Panorama. Mart Fresh is a bi-weekly column in which PCA media staff pick what they think are the "freshest" Porsches currently available, and then attempt to explain their reasoning. Up this week are a 2006 911 Carrera S Club Coupe, a 1979 911 SC Targa, and a 2006 Cayman S.
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Petrolicious—Immediately upon its introduction in 1989, the 964 was seen as Porsche taking the 911 in a new direction. It was unveiled in all-wheel drive form, traded torsion bars for springs and shocks, smoothed its bumpers, and gave the model anti-lock brakes and power steering for the first time and as standard features.
 
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PCA—In this issue, read about a PCA family's obscure Signature Edition 911, plus other special edition Porsches through the years, in "The Signature" by David Mathews. Joe Rusz dives into the very first International Race of Champions, which used a fleet of special 911 Carrera RSRs, in "IROC 1." In "A Twist of Fate," Bruce Sweetman tells the story of a 911 Turbo with unique paint owned by a Tennessee state trooper. The first 968 came out 25 years ago, so join Art Mason in "968 @ 25" and learn about the ultimate four-cylinder transaxle Porsche. Editor-in-Chief and serial vintage-Porsche-memoribilia collector Rob Sass gives us left-of-center gift ideas for the holidays in "Gift Guide."
 
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PCA—Save the date for December 2 or 3, 2017, for PCA's annual Tech Tactics West event. Tickets for each day are $75.
  • Get up close to the Gunther Werks 400R, a 993-based, carbon-fiber-bodied 911 hot rod
  • Pore over the new 700-horsepower, Nürburgring record-holding Porsche 911 GT2 RS
  • Receive a complimentary Tech Tactics t-shirt featuring the Gunther Werks 400R
 
Rennlist—In the course of less than one month, Rennlist user "Western_PA 944" purchased an early production, Canadian-delivery 944 that was sitting in a garage for twenty years, figured out all of its faults, had each of them repaired, and is now driving it. We are blown away by his stunning commitment to, and rapid turnaround of, such an awesome endeavor.
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PCA—The Porsche Club of America is proud to announce a unique creative project with OMEGA, the prestigious Swiss watchmaker, which has resulted in a limited-edition collection of 99 unique and very rare timepieces. Since it was revealed Thursday morning, OMEGA has received more orders than watches available. The order waitlist will remain open as OMEGA confirms orders.
 
PCA—PCA members, it's the time of year for the Fall 2017 Member Only Raffle! PCA will be giving away at least one grand prize, a Porsche 911 plus $25,000 cash. As with all PCA Member Only Raffles, there's a chance to add more grand prizes dependent on ticket sales.

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Autocar—Take a Porsche 911, add a turbocharged engine that's even more powerful than the one you'll find in the Turbo S and fit suspension that's even more focused than the GT3 RS. Hey presto, the GT2 RS: a 690bhp, £200,000 supercar that's capable of 211mph and the 0-62mph dash in 2.8sec.
 
PCA—​​​​​​​The purpose of the contest is to design a logo for the PCA NATIONAL AUTOCROSS program. The logo will be used online, in print, on merchandise, including the need to resize easily and to look good in black and white as well as color. The final version of the logo will need to be suitable for high quality printing.
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PCA—​​​​​​​The Executive Council has appointed Ken Hold, Bluegrass Region; Maggie Goodman-Garnett, Kansas City Region; and Ron Gordon, Chesapeake Region as members of the 2017-2019 Nominating Committee. The committee is carrying out its responsibilities in accordance with the Manual of National Policy and Procedures (MNPP) and PCA National Bylaws. Its goal is to consider, identify, and select the best possible slate of candidates to fill the Executive Council officer roles for the 2019-2020 term. As part of this process, the committee actively seeks feedback from PCA’s Regions on those talented individuals who have the enthusiasm, dedication, and leadership to serve on the Executive Council. The timing to get suggestions to any member of the committee is no later than December 15, 2017.

Members of the committee are listed here on the National website. For further information contact Ken Hold, 2017-2019 Nominating Committee Chairman, at 859-396-3502 or kendellhold@twc.com.
 
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PCA—The Nürburgring gives drivers some of the greatest freedom they’ll ever experience in a car, but it’s also a dangerous race track even for those who know what they’re doing. A new video proves just how easily one incident can snowball into a 14-car pileup on the Green Hell. (Ed.: Apparently, the accident was caused by a 997 GT3 RS whose coolant lines failed. There are fixes for this issue, involving welding or pinning the coolant pipes to their attachment points.)
 
The Truth About Cars—After an extended battle with his family, Ferdinand Piëch has finally acquiesced to resign from the board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE and sell off his remaining shares. At 80 years of age, leaving VW Group’s parent company was probably long overdue for Piëch, but you can’t help but wonder if the manner in which his retirement unfolded hasn’t left him bitter.
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Photo courtesy Petrolicious 
Petrolicious—My name is Torsten Gebauer, I live in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, in a city called Dortmund, and this is a brief story about the long history I’ve had with my Porsche 928.
 
Road & Track—The first 991-generation Porsche 911 GT3 had a 475 horsepower flat-six that revved to 9,000 rpm. That was good. It wasn't available with a manual gearbox. That was less good. While it was objectively quicker on the road and the track, it was subjectively less engaging.
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Car and Driver—Another week, another 911. If Porsche Cars North America had the budget to offer us each variant of its 911 model with each drivetrain for a weeklong loan, we would be in 911s at least 39 weeks a year, now that the 911 Carrera T is a thing.
 
MultiBriefs—For the better part of a century, Porsche has been the world's most successful manufacturer of race cars. From the top step of Le Mans to countless local tracks, Porsche wins races and championships — and will continue to for years to come.
 
Featured Company   Agreed Value Insurance
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Motor1—Porsche may say the new 911 GT2 RS can’t go beyond 211 mph (340 kph), but it seems the talented folks from Stuttgart might have slightly underrated the capabilities of their ultimate Nine Eleven. Sport Auto magazine had the opportunity to test the crown jewel of the extensive 911 range and stretch its legs on the German autobahn where it was taken to the max on one of the remaining unrestricted sections.
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Petrolicious—​​​​​​​If you’re a fan of air-cooled 911s, you’re probably at least interested in the detail-laden high-performance reimagined 911s restored by Singer Vehicle Design. They’ve been doing their thing for a few years now, but interest in their work hasn’t waned in the slightest, and it isn’t likely to any time soon, what with this video showing a 934/RSR-inspired wide-body wrapped around the air-cooled flat-six.
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Road & Track—Porsche has just revealed the Cayman GTS, which is currently the most powerful version of the mid-engined coupe that Porsche makes. But it might not stay that way for long. These shot from Instagram user @porsche_weissach appears to show the next generation of the Cayman GT4, just sitting on the road, hanging out, with no camo on it whatsoever.
 
Car and Driver—Porsche’s third-generation Cayenne is here, and it’s lighter, quicker, and more powerful than before—and with even more tech baked in. We recently had the opportunity to sit with Porsche’s engineers in Germany and run through the 2019 Cayenne’s advancements, and these are the 10 coolest.
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Business Insider—The Porsche Panamera is Business Insider's 2017 Car of the Year.

This is the fourth year we've presented the big trophy. The Panamera joins illustrious company: In 2014, our winner was the Corvette Stingray; in 2015, the Volvo XC90; and, in 2016, the Acura NSX.
 
Sponsored Content
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Autoblog—The sound of the $293,200 911 GT2 RS is like nothing in the current Porsche lineup – or on the road right now, period. Hammer the floor-mounted accelerator pedal and the GT2 RS spits raw, melodious frequencies that will rumble your spine and make your hair stand on end.
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Motor1—Few cars have as many rabid fans as the Porsche 911. Its predecessor, the 356, was built to sate Ferdinand Porsche’s need for a sports car that simply didn’t exist, and used an "engine at the wrong end" approach. It worked, and Porsche has gone on to sell over a million examples of its 911.
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Jalopnik—When Porsche started favoring its dual clutch PDK gearbox over traditional manual transmissions in its high-performance RS models, purists everywhere let loose a thin, reedy wail that reached the unanswering clouds. Honestly, though—did you people expect anything different to happen?
 
Autosport—Porsche World Endurance Championship LMP1 drivers Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber look certain to return to the IMSA SportsCar Championship next season.
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Sportscar 365—We take a look back at some of the key moments in Porsche’s four-year run with the 919 Hybrid through the eyes of those involved with the championship-winning program. Next up is newly crowned two-time World Champion Timo Bernhard.
 
Car Advice—The GT2 RS launch in Portugal gave us a chance to catch up with Mark Webber, recently retired from front-line racing duties but now working in both development and as a brand ambassador for Porsche. The 41-year old Aussie was brought along to give passenger rides on the circuit at Portimao, but sodden conditions put paid to that. Instead, we talked to him about Porsche 911s.
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Top Gear—If you’re anything like us, you spend a large (some might say unhealthy) amount of time on car auction websites, hunting for forgotten gems that haven’t taken a leaf from the classic Porsche handbook and skyrocketed in value.
 
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Porsche Panorama wants to hear from you!
PCA—The editors of Panorama are working on some stories and they need your help: We’d love to tell the story of the long-time connection between pilots and Porsches. From the service men and women who discovered Porsches while based in West Germany in the 1950s to the present. If you’re an Air Force pilot or a Naval Aviator, or if there’s one in your family, we’d love to make it part of this story. Photos are key, we’d love some shots of the Porsche and its pilot owner taken with the planes that he or she flew (or flies).

We’re also looking for a really special Cayenne. One that’s been a family member for a long time, a Cayenne that’s been everywhere and done everything. Preferably one with crazy high miles. If you think you might be the owner of that Cayenne and have some great stories to tell, let us know! If so, please contact us below.
panorama@pca.org
 
PCA—Want to get published in PCA.org and e-Brake News and be part of the new, volunteer-fueled PCA Media Gruppe? Send us your original PCA or Porsche-related content and we'll consider it for publication. Contact Editor Damon Lowney at damonl@pca.org with submissions and story ideas, and he will help with writing and editing as needed.
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Porsche of the Week
Photo by Gary Wolfgang, MD. Suncoast Florida Region. “The chopper is our Life Flight helicopter at the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA. And sitting next to it is my Guards Red 1956 Porsche 356 Speedster, fully restored 21 years ago. It has been featured on the covers of Panorama, Excellence, and the Porsche 356 Registry magazine.”

Got a stunning shot you want to share? Submit your pictures to potw@pca.org. Be sure to include your contact information, your region name, and a few sentences about your picture.
 
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e-Brake News 

I hope you enjoyed this issue of Porsche Club of America's e-Brake News. If you have any questions or comments, please contact:
 
Damon Lowney
Digital Media Coordinator & e-Brake News Editor
damonl@pca.org
(410) 381-0911

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Ilko Nechev
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