Welcome to the Hooniverse News! As always, this is a weekly recap of the biggest stories in the automotive industry without the fluff or bull. This week: Porsche’s tribute to the Carrera RS, Cadillac beautifies the XT4, the Ford Edge shows signs of life in China, and the Toyota GR Corolla is a bigger hit than anticipated.
Porsche 911 GT3 RS Tribute to Carrera RS Package
It’s rare that the name of a car can tell you literally everything important about it, but this very lengthy name leaves nothing to interpretation. It’s a 911 GT3 RS with throwback styling which pays tribute to the legendary 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7. Porsche announced this package back in 2022 but this is the first one that’s reached the US. It was brought out to Thermal Club for a private viewing with media but will be shown to the public at the 12 Hours of Sebring next month.
It’s an appropriate car to pay tribute to as it was the highest performing 911 of its day and spawned an incredible line of successors. The 911 GT3 RS it’s built on is even more potent as it’s also equipped with the hardcore Weissach Package. That adds some exposed carbon, but that can be painted body color for no additional charge. From there it gets special graphics in several places, painted magnesium wheels, mirror caps all painted Python Green. The green accents continue inside with deviated stitching and illuminated doorsill guards. Even though the Carrera RS was available in far more color combos than just white with green accents, that appears to be the only option on this tribute package.
Porsche says this is a limited edition model available only in the US to buyers with an existing 911 GT3 RS allocation through a dealer. So this will be about as limited as any GT3 can get, but they haven’t given exact numbers. Pricing starts at $312,550, or about $47,550 more than the cheapest GT3 RS with Weissach I can configure on Porsche’s website. It’s quite the upcharge, but think of how much they’ll go for on Bring a Trailer.
Side note: I went back to the original announcement for the car from last October. Back then they hyped up an NFT program available exclusively to owners. Can’t imagine why they said nothing about that in this new announcement…
[Source: Porsche]
2024 Cadillac XT4
With new features and a fresh design, the 2024 Cadillac XT4 hopes to be a more attractive luxury crossover offering to the general car buying public which can’t get enough of them. The current XT4 looks… fine? Compared to other designs Cadillac is cranking out though, it’s really nothing special. The new XT4 takes inspiration from the Lyriq and Escalade and from this distance I’d say it’s worked. The improvements aren’t just skin deep though.
A whole new interior has gone into the XT4 as well and a centerpiece of that is the massive 33″ gauge cluster/central infotainment screen with a 9K resolution. Unlike the higher end Cadillacs, it’s an LED screen and not the fancier (and way better at night) OLED. But it’s still a huge screen with plenty of information and features provided by Cadillac’s Virtual Cockpit System, such as 5G Wi-Fi hotspot capability, Google applications built in (Google Assistant, Google Maps, and Google Play), and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support. Besides the new tech, the cabin features authentic brushed aluminum décor across the full width of the instrument panel and fancy embroidery patterns on the seats. Some trims come with genuine wood or carbon fiber décor as well.
Plenty of safety systems are either enhanced or new for the XT4, the latter of which being Intersection Automatic Emergency Braking, Speed Limit Assist, and Traffic Sig Recognition. Automatic Emergency Braking (front) and Lane Keep Assist are enhanced on models that come equipped with it. What isn’t new though is the powertrain, so its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder still produces 235 horsepower and has Active Fuel Management and a nine-speed automatic to make it as efficient as possible, though EPA ratings aren’t available yet for this new model.
Pricing is also not available yet. It goes on sale this summer so you’ll hear about it before then.
[Source: Cadillac]
New Ford Edge revealed for Chinese market
MotorAuthority and other more professional news outlets spotted this bit of Ford news for the rapidly growing Chinese market, but it may still be relevant for those of us in the states. Maybe. And it’s from a vehicle nameplate I’ve not paid really any attention to in several years. Sometimes I even forgot it was still in production, or ever was in production. And quite frankly, Ford may forget about it too if some industry rumors turn out to be true. But this is the all-new Ford Edge in long wheelbase form as it will appear in China later this year. It’s anyone’s guess as to how closely this would resemble the new US-spec Edge, if it even happens.
What we most certainly won’t get is the long wheelbase version shown here. But styling wise? I could see it. In many ways it looks like a more modernized evolution of the Explorer but downsized a bit. It’s got a more SUV-like profile to it, whereas the current Edge looks just like any other egg-shaped crossover out there. Or how a shoe looks when it’s scaled down for kid sizes. This new one looks like it could fit right in within the current Ford lineup over here. The cabin has three rows of seating and an appropriate amount of screen space with a 12.3″ digital gauge cluster and a 27″ touchscreen spanning across most of the dashboard.
A 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine produces 249 horsepower and 279 lb.-ft. of torque. A hybrid powertrain will be offered as well with 271 horsepower and 300 lb.-ft. of torque. AWD is available on both powertrains.
While China gets to enjoy an interesting-looking Edge for the first time in history, we’ll be left to wonder what Ford’s plans are for the Edge in the states. Its sales are dwindling but they’re not terrible by most standards. They could try bringing this new design over and see what happens. Or they could cut it and make way for the Everest (please do this one Ford).
[Source: Ford via MotorAuthority]
Toyota ramping up GR Corolla production due to high demand
The GR Corolla has proven to be a hit and it hasn’t even been on sale for very long. Toyota already has enough data to show they can’t hope to keep up with demand at current production rates, and they’d be able to keep finding a buyer for each one they build.
“We are seeing a ton of enthusiasm and excitement for the GR Corolla, especially the Circuit Edition,” says Michael Tripp, Toyota vice president of Marketing and Communications. “When Toyota GR fans speak, we listen and our plans are to increase GR Corolla volume and continue offering the Circuit Edition as part of the GR Corolla lineup in 2024.”
The Circuit Edition was originally planned to be a one model year only ordeal, so keeping it around another year will give fans another chance to play the dealer markup game and get their hands on one. Toyota also noted that production of the Circuit Edition for 2025 and beyond is still under consideration. Enough people were interested in that model in particular that they extended a special edition a whole extra year, and maybe more. That doesn’t happen very often. And those who want the more modest “standard” GR Corolla, more inventory across the board should mean it’s even easier to get as well.
It’s a good sign when a car like this proves to be more popular than anyone was expecting. Toyota took a chance on the car enthusiast community and the community rewarded them for it.
[Source: Toyota]
What’s your news for the week?
So that’s all I’ve got for you this week, so now it’s your turn. If you saw anything, fixed something, broke everything, or otherwise did anything even remotely car related that you want to share with your fellow hoon, sound off in the comments.
Have a good weekend.
The post The News for February 24th, 2023 appeared first on Hooniverse.
