2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S Aganist 2012 Corvette Grand Sport

Chevrolet's Corvette and Porsche's 911 are two of the most recognized and longest living sports car nameplates in history. Both models have evolved in many ways over the years but also remain true to their heritage. The 2012 Porsche 911 was only just introduced into the market this year sporting an entirely new platform and a lighter body, while the sixth generation of Corvette has been with us since 2005 and has entered its final year of production as Chevrolet will present an all new model next year.
Nonetheless, since we live in the "today", Motor Trend's editor-at-large Angus MacKenzie took the 436-horsepower 2012 Corvette Grand Sport and compared it with the 400-horsepower 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S.
Looking at the price list, we see that the Corvette GS costs $56,900 or $76,130 as tested, while the 911 Carrera S $97,350 or $131,760 as tested.
We believe that a more fair comparison would have probably been to pit the Porsche against the 505-horsepower Corvette Z06 (base price: $75,600) or better yet, the more sophisticated, 638-horsepower ZR1 (base price: $111,600).
In any case, watch the video below and tell us what you think.

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Corvette ZR1 New Design by German Tuner TIKT

In pure stock form, the Corvette ZR1 is a performance beast with its supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine pumping out 638-horses and 604 lb-ft (819Nm) of peak torque. However, German tuning firm TIKT believes that there's plenty of room for improvement so it introduced a new take on the ZR1 with its Triple X package. It all starts with the ZR1's eight-cylinder powerhouse that gets modified cylinder heads, camshafts, valve springs and compressor ratios plus a larger throttle valve, a completely modified exhaust system, a reprogramed ECU and changes to the cooling system.
The tune sees the 6.2-liter unit deliver an output of 758HP (769PS) and a peak torque of 671.2 lb-ft (910Nm).
TIKT then moves on to better the Corvette ZR1's handling through the use of new race shocks, a lowered suspension by a claimed 50mm (1.9 inches), more powerful brakes and a new set of Zerra Ultralight Evo 2 alloy wheels.
The final touches come in the form of an aero package that includes a new front bumper with a splitter, side skirts and an oversized rear wing, all made from lightweight carbon fiber.

PHOTO GALLERY

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GM Boss Mark Reuss Builds a Fantasy Supercar Out of the Company’s Parts Bin

Almost every car fan has, at one point or another, considered building his ideal car: for example, one with a Ferrari or Lamborghini bodywork, a Pagani interior, a Veyron engine, Porsche everyday usability and all this at the price of a used 300,000-mile Ford Escort… Well, the automotive term for this is a parts bin special; that is, a model built by borrowing only (or mostly) existing parts from other models. Mark Reuss, GM’s North American president, was asked by Car & Driver to assemble his dream car by using components that already exist on the company’s shelves.
We have to admit that, even though General Motors is not the first carmaker that comes to mind when picking components to assemble our dream car, Reuss has managed to conjure a pretty interesting vehicle.
The bodywork would come from the 2002 Cadillac Cien concept, which Reuss believes “defined Cadillac”.
 
Up front, the Chevrolet Volt's 149HP electric motor would power the front wheels, while GM’s turbocharged 2.8-liter V6 linked to a Corvette differential would power the rear axle, making the car an all-wheel drive hybrid.
The Volt would also donate its T-shaped battery pack (after it has been cleared by the NHTSA, we presume), mounted between the seats and wirelessly charged through an inductive mat making cables unnecessary.
America’s favorite supercar, the Corvette, would contribute in the handling department with its magnetorheological dampers and the ZR1's carbon-ceramic brakes, while GM’s pony car, the Camaro, would provide the ZL1’s Goodyear F1 SuperCar G performance tires.
Reuss is even talking numbers: the hybrid powertrain would churn out a total of 440HP and 450 lb-ft of torque, enough for a 0-60mph [96km/h] acceleration time of 3.2 seconds. In fact, he went as far as predicting his dream car’s Nürburgring lap time: 7:46. Not ZR-1 or GT-R territory, but quite fast nevertheless.
What about the interior? Well, Reuss would choose the suede steering wheel from the Caddy CTS-V linked to an electric-power steering system, the Recaro bucket seats from the Opel Insignia OPC and a Volt-like multifunction display for energy and VBox info.
Last, but not least, GM North America's president would like his dream car to have a silent interior when in EV mode so he would add a Bose active-noise cancelling system and offer perfect visibility courtesy of a Hughes night-vision system, front and rear cameras and a blind-spot monitoring system.
We applaud Mr Rauss' choices, which would make for one of the best "parts bin special" GM has ever thought of building.
He did omit one thing though: his passenger of choice. Therefore, we feel compelled to make a suggestion: Gisele. She did make a name for herself in the automotive crowd in a CTS-V after all...

GM PARTS BIN

2002 CADILLAC CIEN CONCEPT

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Holy Smoke! Meet the 9.68 Second Quarter Mile Corvette ZR1

We can't be 100 percent certain that this Corvette C6 ZR1 modded by the crew over at 'Late Model Racecraft' is indeed the quickest ZR1 in the world as claimed by its builder, but after watching it run the quarter mile in just 9.68 seconds with an exit speed of 147mph [237km/h], we have no doubt that it's blazing fast. But don't just take our word for it, scroll over the jump to watch the video for yourself. 

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Corvette Driver Slams into Curb During Autocross

So, you want to learn how to drive, do you? Well, we suppose learning by your mistakes is one way to go with it – albeit a very painful and costly one at that.

This video tells the bitter story of a Chevrolet Corvette owner that was doing just fine during an autocross event at a parking lot up until the moment he thought that he got the hang of it and pushed the car beyond his experience.

The result? A very nasty and ultimately, very expensive encounter with the curb…

The poster of the video on Youtube had this to say:

"This is the first time I've ever witnessed an accident at a speed ventures autocross. It was a pretty fast track and it was his first time up since his last break so the tires were pretty cold & so was the track. The driver was shaken up quite a bit, but he walked away."

You can watch the incident in the video after the jump.

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