Porsche » Australian Car Advice

The Supercar Club - the coolest club in Australia

July 29th, 2008 11 Comments

The Supercar Club - the coolest club in Australia

- Paul Maric

Okay, so I was a member of a chess club when I was younger. No big deal, I just made sure I didn’t tell anybody about it - especially girls. This club on the other hand is one that all members aren’t afraid of boasting about.

The title says it all – the Supercar Club.

For those of us who don’t find the idea of owning and experiencing the depreciation of a supercar, there is hope at hand.

The team at the Supercar Club offer members a variety of cars to drive throughout the year, ranging from city runabouts like the HUMMER H2, right through to earth shaking supercars like the Ford GT. After paying a once off joining fee and an annual fee, members are entitled to a certain number of days behind the wheel of the exotics of their choice – the number of days varying with each membership level.

Sitting on the Supercar Club’s fleet at any given point are cars such as the Audi R8, Ferrari F430 and F430 Spider, one of only two right-hand drive Ford GTs in the world, Aston Martin V8 Vantage and DB9, Porsche 911 Turbo and GT2, Lotus Exige S and even an Aerial Atom - amongst others.

This unique program runs out of Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast. The Supercar Club has plans to expand to Perth by years end and Adelaide early next year (2009).

Members book their desired vehicles through an online portion of the Supercar Club’s website which gives priority to early birds. Members have the ability to book 30-days in advance and have the ability to use a limited number of wildcards to book cars up to 12-months in advance for special occasions.

Although you may have heard of many exotic car rental companies operating throughout Australia, but the Supercar Club is unique as it owns every car on its fleet. Those exotic car rental companies generally rent out privately owned cars and can’t guarantee availability as the actual owner of the vehicle has the final say.

The Supercar Club recently launched an initiative allowing Australian members to own a share of a truly exclusive hypercar – the Bugatti Veyron. This exclusive experience is still in the development stage and will finally depend on a minimum number of acceptances.

The idea behind the Bugatti deal is to allow Australian members time behind the wheel of the Veyron. Although the car can’t be driven on Australian roads, members will be given the opportunity to access about one month in total behind the wheel overseas. After driving the Bugatti Veyron myself earlier this year, there is simply nothing that compares in terms of the driving experience and pleasure.

Once the car is sold at the end of its use, members receive a return on their investment – certainly not too bad for a person with around $200,000 in expendable income.

After joining the Supercar Club, members are put through a driving course to help them cope with the size and driveability of a supercar. One of the club’s major repair costs comes from scratched wheels – no wrecked cars to speak of yet, touch wood!

Also on the cards are track days at major racing circuits with the club’s cars. These days will give members a unique opportunity to throw some exotic machinery around the race track in an environment where they can exploit the cars full potential. Instead of owning just the one vehicle and taking it to track days, members will be able to drive a whole range of supercars under controlled conditions.

Some manufacturers were initially threatened by the Supercar Club’s presence in Australia, but soon realised it was a benefit rather than a detriment. Members are able to sample a wide variety of cars and will likely purchase the car that really polarises them. After driving machinery like the Audi S5 and several Lamborghinis, it takes a proper drive to cement the decision to purchase such a car.

A cap of five members to one car means that new cars are added frequently to meet member demands. Prospective members will be happy to hear that it’s a democracy at the Supercar Club. Members are given the chance to vote at frequent meetings and share the decision about the next vehicles entering the fleet.

Members are the ones who ultimately choose the car they’re after, opposed to the big wigs and bean counters of the operation.

According to the Supercar Club, New South Wales members are around 39-years old, on average, and evenly split between business owners and employees. Victoria is somewhat different though with the average age lingering around 47-years old, while about 97 per cent run their own business, indicating entrepreneurial skills are directly related to hot cars … sort of!

Although the general income of members is in the vicinity of $300,000 a year, there is a high school teacher who has recently joined the exclusive club. It’s certainly not a bad way to con students into school work!

Boys, if you have access to your Dad’s black Amex, pop it back in his wallet. The minimum joining age is 30 – although the Supercar Club is willing to make exceptions after prior approval from their insurers.

The most popular cars on the fleet are the Ferrari F430, Ferrari 360, Audi R8 and Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. Victoria is also hung on Aston Martins, with the V8 Vantage and DB9 Volante striking a chord with southern state members. With the recent addition of a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, this could soon change!

The general feel of the place is that members are key and are treated with the utmost respect. In the Supercar Club it doesn’t matter how much you earn or who you are, or even whether you are part of a chess club. Everyone is on the same level and shares the one passion – fast cars.

To find out more information about the Supercar Club, please visit http://www.supercarclub.com.au. You can also call the club on 1300 798 900. If you are interested in Bugatti Veyron ownership, follow this link.

Hide It

2009 Porsche 911 Targa 4 and Targa 4S

July 28th, 2008 5 Comments

“Every bit as iconic as the 911 Turbo, Porsche’s new 911 Targa, is a masterpiece in design and visually stunning”

- Anthony Crawford

Porsche might have adopted the name Targa after the famous Targa Florio road race before any other manufacturer for their 1966 (1967 model) Porsche Targa, but it was the English sports car company Triumph, which first used the system in their 1961 TR4. Unfortunately for them, they called it the “Surry Top”.

Porsche were far more business minded than the small English company and took out a trademark on the “Targa” name. From that moment on, all other manufacturers in the sports car business were forced to come up with alternative names for their removable tops.

But it’s the Porsche Targa, which has survived all these years, and the new 2009 Targa 4 and Targa 4S, with their removable glass roof, is a masterpiece in design and visually, the most unique 911.

Looking down onto the car from some height – the entire roof is glass. That’s 1.54-square metres in two distinct pieces. The front section of the roof slides back beneath the fixed rear glass panel exposing driver and passengers to open space measuring 0.45 square metres.

Opening time for the roof is a fast seven seconds and as standard kit, you also get a new sunblind offering more privacy than on the previous model while opening and closing (electrically) independently of the sliding glass roof section.

And for those rightly concerned about the effects of the sun, there is no need to panic. The glass is anti-sunglare and will protect you from UV radiation and with some heat reduction.

Porsche only build fast cars and these two siblings are no exception. The Targa 4 packs a new 3.6-litre flat-six engine with direct fuel injection and punches out 254kW with a top speed of 284 km/h.

The 4S is powered by the beefier 3.8-litre powertain, which produces 283 kW and will propel this car onto the supercar speed of 297 km/h.

And if you’re thinking about ordering the Targa with the optional Tiptronic gearbox, forget it. Porsche have developed their own version of a fast shifting double-clutch transmission they are calling PDK or Porsche-Doppelkupplung. Not sure of the actual shift times in milliseconds but it is said to be a full 0.2 seconds quicker in the 0-100 km/h run than the standard six-speed box, and with better fuel economy and less emissions.

Traction and stability has also been enhanced on the new Targa variants with the introduction of the Porsche Traction Management (PTM). It’s an electronically controlled system, which replaces the previous all-wheel drive with viscous multiple-plate clutch.

Almost forgot, 0-100 km/h in the Targa 4, will take you all of 5.0 seconds, and just 4.7 seconds in the Targa 4S. That’s with the double-clutch transmission deployed in both cars.

Pricing for the new 911 series will be announced by Porsche Australia shortly and the Targa variants along with the Carrera 4 and 4S models will go on sale here on October 25.

Hide It

2010 Porsche Cayenne CGI & Spy photos

July 13th, 2008 5 Comments

Computer graphic artists have put together what we believe the next-generation Porsche Cayenne will look like.

The images are generated based on a series of spy photos that have shown up in recent times.

2009 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 range

June 25th, 2008 6 Comments

Porsche is working its way up the food chain with its next generation 911 range, having today unveiled the new Carrera 4 models.

The all-wheel drive 911 Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S will enter the market in both Coupé and Cabriolet guise, featuring two engine and transmission variants offering improved driving dynamics and lower fuel consumption.

Porsche returns to ‘Ring with new 911

June 18th, 2008 23 Comments

Following the release of the next generation 911, Porsche has returned to the Nurburgring to settle a grudge.

With the Nissan GT-R setting the benchmark at an incredible 7:29, and a limit of 7:59 set by the Cadillac CTS-V to avoid humiliation, there was certainly very little room for error.

Porsche’s next generation 911

June 7th, 2008 27 Comments

Porsche has released details of the next generation of 911 sports cars, including a double clutch system, and launch control.

In a press release today, Porsche states that there will be two coupes, and two cabriolets, with new 3.6 and 3.8-litre engines featuring direct injection, and the optional new double clutch gearbox - Porsche-Doppelkupplung, or PDK in Porsche-speak.

2010 Porsche Cayenne spy photos

June 5th, 2008 6 Comments

2010 Porsche Cayenne spy photos

These prototypes photographed are not a smaller brother to the current Porsche Cayenne. Having surfed the web in the last few weeks, many media outlets have incorrectly reported that it could be named the Roxster – but it’s actually the first sighting of the icon itself: the new Porsche Cayenne.

The photos are of two different variants, the standard Cayenne (with square exhaust pipes - first one) and the Cayenne S (with two pairs of round exhausts -second one).

Luxury brands insulted by tax rise

May 13th, 2008 33 Comments

Luxury car manufacturers have today responded to the Government’s proposal to increase the luxury car tax from 25 percent to 33 percent.

Porsche, BMW and Audi have all released statements openly criticising the tax rise which has been labeled as counter-productive and harmful and that it will add to Australia’s inflationary burden.

Each manufacturer has independently argued that this proposal unfairly targets brands who invest in technology to reduce greenhouse gases and improve safety - declaring it a tax on innovation.

“Over the years luxury brands pioneered new safety technologies such as airbags, ABS brakes, and Electronic Stability Control. Today, mass market brands and their customers reap the rewards,” said Guenther Seemann, Managing Director of BMW Group Australia.

Citing the tax hike as ‘disappointing’, Audi’s managing director, Joerg Hofmann says that for over 100 years, Audi has been at the forefront of innovation, pioneering key technologies which are today taken for granted, even in mass market vehicles. The company was the first to introduce now basic safety features like safety glass, and even pioneered side impact and rollover testing.

This tariff increase will have serious ramifications for the competitiveness of the Australian automotive industry, and the car-buying public in general, says Hofmann.

They also argue that luxury car manufacturers are constantly investing in technology to reduce its emissions and create more fuel efficient cars, and that a tax system based on CO2 emissions would align better with the Government’s position on the environment.

“Increasing the tax burden on Australians who help fund innovation in cleaner and safer cars highlights a lack of appreciation for the role technology innovation plays in the market.” from BMW

“The Government has a direct interest in making cars safer and cleaner, yet has effectively put this kind of technology at risk for Australian buyers, a move that seems directly at odds with its green agenda.” from Audi

Porsche agrees that the new tax unfairly targets the innovators, and also questions the economic benefit of raising the luxury car tax, indicating the budget would be counter-productive, harmful and put at risk the jobs of thousands of Australians employed in the premium automotive sector.

“The high-end of the market has as much elasticity as the low-end. In fact, you could argue that the high-end has more elasticity as most purchases of premium and luxury goods are deferrable. For the Rudd Government to therefore suggest that an increase in tax would lead to an increase in revenue is overly simplistic and incorrect.” says Porsche Cars Australia managing director, Michael Winkler.

A one-third increase of the LCT from 25 per cent to 33 per cent would result in Porsche’s most affordable sports car, the Boxster, moving from $109,300 to $112,400 (+$3,100); while the price of Porsche’s most popular sports car – the 911 Carrera S – would rise from $227,600 to $237,700 (+ $10,100.)

The only consolation for luxury manufacturers is the Government’s scheduled reduction in tariffs on imported cars from 10 percent to 5 percent from 2010.

Hide It

2008 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S released

April 21st, 2008 21 Comments

Porsche has today announced the introduction of the latest Cayenne - the Turbo S.

With the regular 4.8-litre V8 twin turbo from the Cayenne Turbo having been tweaked, the Turbo S pumps out a colossal 404kW and a monstrous 750Nm.

Nissan GT-R .vs. Porsche 911 Turbo on Dyno

March 14th, 2008 31 Comments

It’s hard not to compare the Nissan GT-R to the Porsche 911 Turbo, after all, Nissan did use the German car as the benchmark in its development. But despite being faster to 100km/h and by all reports even faster around a race track, the GT-R is no where near the 911’s price tag and essentially, it is, just a Nissan… Right?

Not at all, the just a Nissan tag is quickly dying out with report after report showering the GT-R with more praise than Nissan could have ever envisioned. To add to Porsche’s worries, both cars have now been put on a dyno to find out, once and for all, which has more power and torque.