Detroit Auto Show - The New Porsche Targa Has a Magical Pop-Top

Wired - Porsche has built the most beautiful 911 Targa in a generation, a gorgeous throwback to the 1967 original that opens and closes in a mesmerizing mechanical ballet that took three years to engineer.

Frankly, we weren’t expecting much from the Targa. Although the original was a clever sidestep around impending safety regulations, later models were simply coupes with oversized sunroofs. But the all-new Targa unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show further proves Porsche engineers are among the best in the world. At the press of the button, the entire roof opens like a flower and the top stows itself.

The Targa was born in the mid-1960s when the U.S. Department of Transportation was seriously considering banning convertibles due to concerns they were deathtraps in a rollover. Some automakers responded by developing T-tops. 

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2015 Lexus RC-F First Look - 2014 Detroit Auto Show

Detroit Auto Show: Corvette Z06 delivers 625 hp and it's street-legal

Yesterday, General Motors introduced the extra high-performance Corvette Z06, a fit-for-the-street racecar boasting at least 625 horsepower.  The Detroit Free Press reports:

The 2015 Corvette Z06, revealed in a press conference at the Detroit auto show, shares an aluminum frame with its high-profile sister, the Corvette Stingray, but it’s distinguished by an 6.2-liter “supercharged” V8 mated with a custom-made eight-speed automatic transmission.

The Z06 was GM’s fastest car ever when engineers tested it at the Milford Proving Grounds, Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter told reporters.

It also boasts a tremendous amount of “downforce,” an engineering term describing a car’s ability to hug the road when it barrels around corners. Most mass-market vehicles are exactly the opposite: they have too much lift when cornering.

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BMW Concept 4 Coupe takes over where 3 Series left off (pictures)

 

DETROIT--At the 2013 North American International Auto Show auto show, BMW's Concept 4 Series Coupe indicates a future design direction for the company, and fills a hole in the lineup. The car serves as a more focused sport vehicle than the current 3 Series, which became watered down when BMW attempted to make it suitable for both performance and luxury seekers. Design cues seen on the front are the light pipes around the headlights and machined, inset pieces on the intake.

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2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Coupe Debuts at the Detroit Auto Show

 

2014 Corvette Stingray debuts with rev-matching 7-speed

Lighter, more powerful, and featuring higher tech, Chevrolet's newest 'Vette may just be the best ever.

CNET - DETROIT--Chevrolet has pulled the covers back on what is easily the most hotly anticipated (and worst-kept secret) of the 2013 Detroit auto show: the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.

Only three Corvette models have ever borne the name Stingray: the mid-'60s second-generation model, the third-generation car produced through the '70s and into the '80s (arguably the most iconic), and now the seventh-generation (C7) 2014 model. Chevrolet states that it's reviving the name for the 2014 model year because it is the best 'Vette ever. Well, it's not like Chevy would claim anything less of its newest halo car, but the automaker does seem to have the numbers to back it up.

2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray debuts in Detroit (photos)

 

The new 6.2-liter, direct-injected V-8 will make an estimated 450 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque. The automaker is estimating a 0-60 time under 4 seconds and over 1G of cornering grip. 

Making use of cylinder deactivation technology, Chevrolet is also claiming better fuel economy than any generation of Corvette before it.

 

Power flows through a seven-speed manual transmission that uses an Active Rev Matching technology similar to that of the Nissan 370Z's. As the driver moves the shift lever into a gear, the 'Vette's computer blips the throttle to match the wheel speed for a smooth ratio change when the clutch pedal is released.

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