gt3

BMW launches Z4 GT3 for the Gentleman Racer

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Sports

Mario Theissen and his crew at BMW Motorsport have had some extra time on their hands. First they pulled out of Formula One, selling their team back to Sauber. Then they streamlined their World Touring Car Championship teams, eliminating several cars in the process. So what have they been doing with their newfound spare time? You're looking at it: the BMW Z4 GT3.

Designed for the "gentleman racer", the GT3-spec Z4 gets a heart transplant courtesy of the M3's 4-liter, 480-horsepower V8. Coupled to a six-speed sequential and managed by Munich's ECU408 control unit, that ought to be enough to quicken the heartrates of Bimmerfiles worldwide. But wait, there's more! Like competition-spec ABS, a full roll-cage, central-locking rims and a new front axle with adjustable tubular stabilizer. Oh, and significant weight has been shaved through the use of carbon fiber for the wings, hood, roof and fenders.

BMW will sell you a race-ready car – eligible for such series as the FIA GT3 European Championship, International GT Open and Germany's own ADAC GT Masters – for €298,000, or about $400k in American funds.

Gallery: BMW Motorsport Z4 GT3

Tags: bmw, bmw motorsport, bmw motorsports, bmw z4, bmw z4 gt3, BmwMotorsport, BmwMotorsports, BmwZ4, BmwZ4Gt3, gt3, z4, z4 gt3, Z4Gt3

9ff GTurbo: A Porsche GT3 on Steroids

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

What has 1000 horsepower, hits 60 in the 2s and can hit nearly 250 miles per hour? If you're thinking the Bugatti Veyron, well...you're right. But that's not the only show in town. Not if 9ff has anything to say about it.

The Porsche tuner extraordinaire has a history – not a long one, mind you, but an accomplished one – of taking "ordinary" sportscars and turning them into the pinacle of supercars. We've brought you news of their modified 911 GT2, 911 Turbo, Panamera and even the GT9-R, which could very well be the fastest car in the world. And now we bring you the GTurbo.

Starting with the 911 GT3 or GT3 RS, 9ff bolts on a pair of turbochargers to bring power up incrementally from 450 up to 750, 850 or even 1000 horsepower at the buyer's request. The result, at full tilt, is Veyron-like performance. But while they've announced pricing for the aerodynamic body kit (8,900 euros), the five-spoke 19" wheels (4,980 euros) and the optional central-locking rims (5,950 euros), if you have to ask how much the turbo kit costs, you may be able to afford it, but whether you'll have the ability to drive it is another story.

Gallery: 9ff GTurbo

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Tags: 911, 911 gt3, 911Gt3, 9ff, 9ff gturbo, 9ffGturbo, gt3, gt3 rs, Gt3Rs, gturbo, porsche, porsche 911, porsche 911 gt3, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Porsche911, Porsche911Gt3, Porsche911Gt3Rs

Porsche Unveils new 911 GT3 Cup for the Gentleman Racer

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

If you're thinking about starting your own career as a "gentleman racer", this is the machine you'll need: the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. It's one of the most popular race cars of all time, and is the staple machinery used in a whole variety of racing series in American, Europe and abroad. And for 2010, Porsche has released a newly revised version that is expected to debut at the Frankfurt auto show next month.

Based on the recently-released GT3 RS, the new GT3 Cup is treated to the same improvements as the rest of the revised 911 range. But from there it's all business. It packs the same 3.9-liter 450-hp flat-six engine as the street-legal GT3, but offers more downforce courtesy of extra wings and competition-spec suspension, wheels and more. It comes in white so each team can emblazon it with their own sponsors' logos, and sells for a cool 150,000 euros.

Gallery: 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

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Tags: gt3, porsche, porsche 911, porsche 911 gt3, porsche 911 gt3 cup, porsche gt3, Porsche911, Porsche911Gt3, Porsche911Gt3Cup, PorscheGt3

Gentleman Racer: Lamborghini LP560 GT3 Racer by Reiter Engineering

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Owners of exotic supercars around the world are finding it increasingly frustrating to drive their high-performance machinery on public roads. There's only so much of their potential that you can safely, responsibly and legally use on city streets and rural highways. So many are beginning to turn to the race track to get their thrills. But if you're already heading to a closed circuit, then who says your car has to be street legal? Might as well make it a proper racing car, like the one you see here. German racing firm Reiter Engineering has taken the already amazing Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 and turned it into a track-focused racing machine the likes of which the factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese has only dreamed. To bring the Gallardo up to GT3 level specifications. Reiter has taken out all the excess weight they could, retuned the 560-horsepower V10 engine, dropped the suspension, tweaked the aerodynamics with giant wings fore and aft, fitted new brakes and transmission and mounted the whole thing on slick racing tires. No wonder Reiter-prepared Lamborghinis have won, and continue to win trophies in racing classes around the world. Of course all the racing equipment on top of the price of a stock Lambo doesn't come cheap: 265,000 euros in this case. But the flexible platform means that the GT3-spec Gallardo can be converted to the even more extreme GT2 formula for another 30,000 euros. So if the gentleman racer feels like stepping it up another notch, he won't need to start again from scratch.

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Tags: gt3, lamborghini, lamborghini gallardo, lamborghini gallardo lp560, lamborghini gallardo lp560-4, LamborghiniGallardo, LamborghiniGallardoLp560, LamborghiniGallardoLp560-4, reiter, reiter engineering, reiter engineering gallardo gt3, reiter gallardo, reiter lamborghini, ReiterEngineering, ReiterEngineeringGallardoGt3, ReiterGallardo, ReiterLamborghini

Panamera Delayed, Porsche Unveils Updated 911 GT3 in Geneva

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

At this year's Geneva Motor Show, Porsche was originally scheduled to unveil its highly anticipated new Panamera four-door model, bridging the gap between its sportscar line-up and the Cayenne sport-utility vehicle. The German automaker, which recently acquired majority stake in the entire Volkswagen Group and all its many subsidiaries, opted instead to delay the Panamera's launch. Purists were undoubtedly pleased to see Porsche instead use the occasion to unveil its latest performance-focused driving tool, the revised 911 GT3. Slotting in below the Turbo and GT2 models in the 911 range, the new GT3 features a 3.8-liter flat-six that generates 435 horsepower without the need for turbochargers...good enough to propel the lightweight sportscar to sixty miles per hour in only 4.1 seconds. Center-locking wheels, a big rear wing and vents aplenty set the GT3 apart visually from the more ordinary versions of the 911, as you can see from the photographs in the gallery below.

Gallery: 2010 Porsche 911 GT3

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Tags: 911, 911 gt3, 911Gt3, geneva, geneva 2009, geneva motor show, Geneva2009, GenevaMotorShow, gt3, panamera, porsche, porsche 911, porsche 911 gt3, porsche gt3, porsche panamera, Porsche911, Porsche911Gt3, PorscheGt3, PorschePanamera

New Porsche 911 Release Details

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

After making it's debut a few months ago, the new Porsche 911 Turbo drew a crowd at the New York Auto show this week and Michael Bartsch, the vice president of Porsche Cars North America gave out some release dates. The Porsche will be available for purchase starting in June with a sticker price of more than $122,000. Shortly afterward, in August, a street-legal version of the Porsche racer the 911 GT3 is to be released in the United States at $106,795. The company plans to sell about 800 units during their first year.

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Tags: 911, 911 GT3, auto show, cars, gt3, new cars, porsche, porsche 911, porsche gt3, race, turbo, us