Author: Olly

  • Porsche Drive subscription program expands with more affordable single-vehicle option

    Want to impress that Tinder date but you don’t really have the big bucks to buy or lease a luxury car? Porsche may have the answer.

    Beginning Sept. 25, Porsche will kick off a one-vehicle version of the Porsche Drive subscription program. Customers in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Phoenix, and San Diego will soon be able to subscribe to a single Porsche vehicle for one to three months for a one-time all-inclusive price. Porsche Drive was previously available for multiple vehicles and for short-term rentals for a few hours up to a couple of weeks.

    Prices range from $1,500 and $2,600 per month for the one-vehicle monthly option, plus a $595 registration fee. A Macan costs $1,500 per month, a 718 Cayman $1,800, a 718 Boxster or Cayenne $1,950, a Panamera $2,450, and a 911 $2,600.

    Those prices represent a savings versus the multi-vehicle version of Porsche Drive, which is offered in two tiers in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Sand Diego, and now Los Angeles. The program starts at $2,100 a month for all 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster S and below models, the Macan and Macan S, the base Cayenne and Cayenne coupe, and the Panamera and Panamera 4.

    2021 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo

    2021 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo

    For $3,100 per month, customers can choose any of the models in the base tier or move up to a variety of 911 models in S trim or below; the GTS versions of the Boxster, Cayman, and Macan; the Cayenne S, Cayenne E-Hybrid Coupe, and Cayenne S Coupe; and the Panamera 4 E-Hybrid and Panamera 4S. Porsche previously said that members switch vehicles an average of 2.5 times per month.

    The prices include delivery, insurance, maintenance, roadside assistance, and concierge service.

    The short-term rental version of the program lets customers choose a model for one-to-three days or four or more days, with some discounts for four-day and longer rentals. Loans as short as four hours are no longer available. Mileage is capped at 200 miles per day, and the price starts at $245 per day for a Macan and ranges up to $395 per day for a 911.

    Those interested in any of the rental or subscription options can sign up through the Porsche Drive app.

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  • CAR LEGENDS #33 – MERKUR XR4TI

    What was initially a stop-gap car for Ford Motorsport while the RS500 was developed actually became a surprise success. We take a look at the Merkur XR4Ti…

    In many ways, you could call the Merkur XR4Ti of the ’80s the ‘Sierra-that-wasn’t’. Although it used the same body style as the XR4i, it had a turbocharged Ford USA four-cylinder, was built by Karmann in Germany, and was marketed as a ‘Merkur’ (Merkur means ‘Mercury’ in German).

    The engine was a single OHC 2.3-litre, closely related to the European Pinto, as used in the Mustang SHO of the period. Sold principally in the USA (but never in the UK), it was built from 1984 to 1988 – and a total of 45,748 machines were eventually produced.

    MERKUR XR4TIMERKUR XR4TI

    When Stuart Turner returned to run Ford’s European motorsport programme in 1983, he needed to develop a new Group A race car, and was soon persuaded that the answer could be a very special version of the Sierra, which we now know as the RS500 Cosworth.

    In the meantime, he contracted teams like Eggenberger and Andy Rouse to develop an interim race car based on the XR4Ti, for the chassis could be shared with the still-to-come RS500, and the engine was already known to be raceworthy in North America.

    There wasn’t time to produce a special car, so the twin-rear wing, three-side-window style was retained. It proved to be remarkably effective, though not as aerodynamically efficient as the Cosworth-engined cars which would follow.

    MERKUR XR4TIMERKUR XR4TI

    Group A homologation was gained on 1 April 1985, with Andy Rouse picking up his first BTCC outright victory five days later, at Oulton Park.

    By this time the engines produced about 320bhp. Rouse went on to win nine BTCC races in 1985, and (this time with two cars in his team) added five more victories in the 1986 season.

    Eggenberger of Switzerland appeared with XR4Tis in 1986, and claimed one outright victory, at Jarama in Spain. Then came 1987, and the RS500 – which is another story altogether…

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  • FC TV EP13: THE ULTIMATE MITSUBISHI 3000GT

    Welcome to Fast Car TV! With awesome builds, new products, tech talks and which cars we’d buy to modify, think of it as the magazine…but moving and talking! In this episode, Jules from Fast Car is joined by Initial G, Fast Car’s designer to discuss whether new cars still have some character and why more of us should buy and modify a Mitsubishi 3000GT . Check out Ep12 here. Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel

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