Singer 911 offers vintage looks, modern appointments, exotic performance

Michael Harley — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:57:00 EST

Singer 911 -- Click above for high-res photo gallery

Singer Vehicle Design rolled out its first prototype, plainly named the "Singer 911," at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance last month. Based on an '80s-era long-wheelbase 911 donor vehicle, the company strips each chassis to its bare shell for "reinvention" into what Singer calls a "celebration of the golden air-cooled era of the world's most important sports car."

Incontestable is its vintage Porsche 911 look. However, the Singer 911 is far from antiquated. The complete reincarnation includes chassis stiffening, new active aerodynamics, and a lightweight integral backbone structure and roll cage to improve torsional rigidity. Most interestingly, nearly all of the steel body panels are replaced by full carbon fiber composite bodywork candy-coated in Singer's exclusive "Racing Orange" paint.

Under the rear decklid is an air-cooled 3.82-liter flat-six sporting six individual throttle bodies. With a GT3 crankshaft and titanium connecting rods, the powerplant spins eagerly to 8,000 RPM. The engine sends 425 horsepower and 340 lb-ft of torque to a proper Getrag G50 six-speed manual transmission. According to the engineering team, the 2,400-pound Singer 911 will sprint to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds. Top speed is in excess of 170 MPH.

Make the jump for more.

Gallery: 2010 Singer Porsche 911

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Singer 911 offers vintage looks, modern appointments, exotic performance originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sibling Rivalry: Porsche and Audi fight over 'RS' name

Michael Harley — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:29:00 EST

Filed under: Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen

Click the image above for a high-res gallery.

We've all watched the ALMS Porsche RS Spyder in racing, read the reviews about Porsche's track-ready 997 GT3 RS, and checked out the new Boxster RS 60 Spyder. Maybe some of us (Porschephiles?) have even dreamed about someday owning a classic 1973 911 Carrera RS (pictured above). Porsche's "RS" designation stands for "Renn Sport," or racing, and it is reserved for the highest performing models in the company's lineup.

Wait a second. Doesn't Audi also offer a slew of "RS" models too? They have their hot RS4, RS6, and the lightweight RS8. Now they have plans to bring out a high-performance version of the TT to be called the TT RS...

Not so fast, the team at Porsche is saying. Naming it the "TT RS" is stepping over that thin line drawn in the sand. Furthermore, the "RS" suffix is Porsche's, and it won't be slapped on an Audi anytime soon (especially as Porsche continues to increase its ownership in the Volkswagen Group). Audi may continue to use "RS" as a prefix, but that's about it. Well, that was easy, don't you think?

Gallery: 2007 Porsche RS Spyder

[Source: Winding Road]

Sibling Rivalry: Porsche and Audi fight over 'RS' name originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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