Todays car of the day is Mr L’s Porsche 911 Carrera 4S.
The unmistakable silhouette of the 911 is characterised by its iconic fly line. It has barely changed since 1963, and has shaped the DNA of all Porsche models.
With its 325-horsepower 3.8-liter six-cylinder engine, the 2006 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 is capable of accelerating from a standing start to 60 mph (96 km/h) in just 4.9 seconds and reaches 99 mph (160 km/h) in 11.2 seconds.
Mr L has insured his vehicle through AIB insurance on a high net worth policy. This policy includes an agreed value, salvage retention, choice of repairer and legal cover expenses.
If you also have a high net worth vehicle that you would like a bespoke quotation for, call our specialist teams on 02380 268351. If you also own a high net worth vehicle and would like to share your photos with us, email them to info@aib.co.uk.
Sports car tyres make a major contribution to the ability of high-performance sports to “stick to the road”. These tyres are very complex products meeting numerous, largely contradictory demands. Finding the proper structure that balances these demands for any given application is the great challenge in tyre design.
Porsche manufacturers and designs some of the highest performance vehicles in the world, as a result tyres play an integral role in vehicle performance. Porsche has integrated tyre development throughout their process of vehicle development. To that extend to be an Original Equipment tyre provider on a Porsche vehicle or be approved by Porsche for the replacement market requires the joint product development efforts of the tyre engineers working alongside the Porsche vehicle engineers.
N-Rating
Not all Production tyres make the grade and fort those that have passed all of the tests and received the engineering department’s release can be branded with an N-specification. The N-specification brandings include: N-0 (N-zero), N-1, N-2, N-3 etc. These markings on a tyre’s sidewall clearly identify them as approved by Porsche for their vehicles. The N-0 marking is assigned to the first approved version of a tyre design. As that design is refined externally or internally, the later significant evolutions will result in a new generation of the tyre to be branded with N-1, N-2, etc, in succession. When a completely new tyre design is approved, it receives the N-0 branding and the succession begins again. Recently N has been updated to NA for all new tyres with the designation NF used for the all-electric models.
Research and Development
The focus in recent radial tyre development for Porsche vehicles has included optimum handling on dry surfaces and the safest possible behaviours on wet surfaces, even at high speeds. Tyres developed by various tyre manufacturers, in conjunction with Porsche, offer a specific set of wet grip properties which few, if any, other automobile manufacturers demand in equal measure from the tyres they use on their vehicles. Tyres may be specified for a particular vehicle or range of vehicles and must successfully pass the tyre company’s laboratory, track and race tests to assure that they would be capable of adequately supporting the Porsche vehicle. Approval testing ensures tyres can reach their top speed on the Autobahn whilst meeting Porsche’s noise, hydroplaning, high-speed durability, uniformity, serviceability and handling requirements.
Changing Tyres
It is recommended that only matching tyres be used on Porsche vehicles. Since many Porsche vehicles are fitted with differently sized tyres on their front and rear axles, this means matching the tyre make, tyre type and N-specification. If a vehicle was originally delivered with N-specification tyres that have been discontinued and are no longer available, it is recommended to change all four tyres to a higher numeric N-specification design appropriate for that vehicle. Mixed tyre types are not recommended. Tyres should be replaced no less than in pairs on one axle at a time. Only tyres of the same tyre make and type must be used. However, in case of tyre damage such as cuts, punctures, cracks or sidewall bulges that cause a single tyre to be replaced for safety reasons, the remaining matching tyre on that axle must not exceed 30 percent wear to the other axle tyre. Otherwise, both axle tyres need replacing, as handling inconsistencies may result if this is not done.
Porsche Tyres
Brand new tyres do not offer their full traction during the first 60-100 miles, therefore drivers should therefore drive at moderate speeds in order to bed in new tyres. If new tyres are installed on only one axle, a noticeable change in handling occurs due to the different tread depth of the other tyres. However, this condition disappears as new tyres are broken in. Drivers should adjust their driving style accordingly. It is also important to know that while Porsche N-specification tyres have been fine tuned to meet the specific performance needs of Porsche vehicles, the tyre manufacturers may also build other tyres featuring the same name, size and speed rating as the N-specification tyres for non-Porsche applications. These tyres may not be branded with the Porsche N-specification because they do not share the same internal construction and/or tread compound ingredients as the N-specification tyres. Using tyres that are not N-specific is not recommended and mixing them with other N-specification tyres is not permissible.
If there is a car model gap to be filled, rest assured that every car manufacturer will ensure it’s filled. Presenting the latest Porsche 911 GTS that has landed to fill that crucial gap between the Carrera S and the full-beans GT3. A car which possibly could be the only new 911 that you could ever need.
Porsche tell us that the new 992 GTS generation is “inspired by the 904 GTS race car of the 1960s, with the letters GTS identify Porsche models that offer a carefully curated combination of performance, style and emotion.” Either way this modern 911 GTS has been a very popular and very successful model in the 911 range. Rightly so, as it hits that sweet spot popular model in the 911 range since it was first introduced twelve years ago, with the highest retained values of any 911 Carrera model.
The GTS sits between the Carrera S and the GT3 in its specification, power and potential, but this time it has a few more tricks borrowed from the 911 Turbo to add to its arsenal. Powered by the trusty 3.0-litre flat-six turbo it produces more power than the 992 Carrera S and more than the previous GTS. There’s 473bhp on offer with 420lb ft of torque on tap, all a moderate increase from its predecessor.
Available with all the options in either rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive sporting the choice of the super slick 8 speed PDK automatic gearbox and the all-important 7 speed manual, which we will come back to later. PDK is the unpronounceable ‘Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe’ which translates as Porsche dual-clutch gearbox, if you were wondering. Spec GTS with Carrera 4 All-wheel drive and using launch control with the PDK box 0-62mph will be despatched in just a mere 3.3 seconds. So really all the pace you could ever need.
Visually, there are a few clues to the GTS being the GTS. Namely, the ‘GTS’ badge and its black satin 20in front alloys and 21in rear alloys, black highlights across the body, with the exhaust tip and the spoiler lip painted black, as are the dynamic LED headlights and model-unique GTS tail-lights. All GTS cars have the fitment of the ‘Sport Design’ pack as standard.
As for a helping hand from the 911 Turbo since GT3 technology is off-limits, the suspension is 911 Turbo ‘derived’ modified for this GTS with adaptive dampers aka PASM, Porsche Active Suspension Management. The Coupe and Cabriolet GTS models get a 10mm lower Sport chassis which translates into stiffer springs, adapted shocks, anti-roll bars and a new PASM control, but the Targa GTS only gets PASM.
There are a few more Turbo tricks with rear-axle helper springs proudly explained by Porsche as “a development shared with the Turbo models”, which means it keeps the main springs under tension in all conditions, which is probably not a bad ideal when you’re knocking on the door of being a 500hp sport car. Not forgetting the legendary Porsche brakes which have also been pinched from the 911 Turbo, which are thankfully massive 408mm front and 380mm rears discs. Porsche also assures us the noise this GTS makes will be a special one, cue the standard sports exhaust with some clever upgrades.
On the inside and keeping the sporting GTS theme, there’s a bit less interior insulation and for those feeling like a GT3 driver there is the option of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) bucket seats which do look gorgeous. Along with the option of thinner window glass and a lightweight battery save up to 25kg as part of the optional Lightweight Package, which also happens to deletes the rear seats and adds rear-axle steering. Otherwise, the interior GTS is marked out by extensive use of Porsche’s Race-Tex upholstery, which is their version of Alcantara fabric with some tasty carbon fibre interior trim inserts.
For those you can’t get a new GT3 for love or money this is car to get, which is why I should strongly recommend the new generation of ‘light operation’ Manual gearbox. I’m told that over a Carrera S the excellent manual has a “particularly short lever throw” which outlines it’s GT credentials and is the must have specification for owners. Truth be told most owners will opt for the PDK which is shame as I’ve driven the manual and with all of its clever technology assistance this is unlike any old style manual gearbox.
The 911 GTS is on sale now, priced from £108,920 as the Coupé, £118,720 as the Cabriolet and £124,300 as the Targa, available now but that manual is worth a closer look.
This article was provided by our friends at www.911uk.com – the Porsche enthusiast club.
The car of the week this week is the perfect Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe.
The Carrera was available in rear and all-wheel drive versions. It was equipped with the naturally aspirated 3.6 liter M64 engine, further developed from the 964, and combined with a new dual-flow exhaust system now incorporating two catalytic converters. In contrast with most of the other variants, production of the Carrera coupé and Cabriolet ceased with the end of 1997 model year, except for a very few produced in a shortened 1998 model year.
Mr G knows this beauty is fully covered with salvage Retention, agreed value and choice of repairer along with legal expenses cover covering any uninsured loses up to £100,000.
Thank you Mr G for sharing this perfect example of a 1996 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe. If you have a classic needing insurance cover call our specialist team on 02380 268351.
In a world of headlines reserved for the powerhouse GT2, GT3, RS, Turbo and Turbo S models,how do you make that bread and butter 911 Carrera special, you call Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur. The all-new 2020 Porsche 911 (Generation 992) Targa 4S Heritage Design is the first of 4 classic-inspired special editions and announces the expansion of Porsche’s ‘bespoke tailoring’ Exclusive Manufaktur division.
The expansion of Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur follows on from the global success of the limited-edition 911 (Generation 991) Speedster Heritage Design, which since its launch have been trading at upwards of £300k (£200k list price). The Speedster’s Heritage Design concept provided a perfect testbed for how the design features would work on Porsche fans and customers. Porsche are planning 4 special editions from Exclusive Manufaktur over the course of the 992-generation 911’s lifetime. These will appear on different 911 variants and celebrating different designs from the 911’s history, blending modern 911 technology with design elements of the past.
The 992 Targa was the perfect model with its retro Targa styling to be the first Heritage Design production model. It is launched with details from the 50s and 60s, with an exclusive Cherry Red paintwork, inspired by the early shades of the Classic 50’s Porsche 356. The Porsche logo is in its old font and brake callipers in black, as back in the 50sthere weren’t any red or yellow brake callipers. A major design feature is the historical white livery and lollipop number stickers on the doors, where customers can specify any numbers. The Heritage Design continues into the interior with red leather and corduroy seats, as used in the 356, along with interior and exterior parts in gold trim as they once were. A unique badge on the rear lid has been reintroduced, which were given back in the day to 356 owners who had reached 100,000km in their cars.
The 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design is limited to 992 global units, which is the eighth-generation 911’s internal designation. UK prices start from £136,643, with UK deliveries expected to start in the autumn. It is £26,918 more than a standard Targa 4S, with customer likely to add a sizeable number of additional cost options extras to their final specifications. It shares the same mechanical unchanged specification from the Targa 4S’s chassis and powertrain, paired with either the eight-speed PDK or seven-speed manual transmission. Deploying it’s 444bhp 3-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six engine and all-wheel-drive system to 189mph and a 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds.
The Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur team expect the future rollout of these bespoke models to be up to two years before the next car. Porsche Exclusive stands for passion and craftsmanship, so keeping these models exclusive is key to that strategy. The future range expected to look back at the 60s, 70s and 80s based on other 911 variants. These special editions appeal to customers who are fascinated by Porsche’s rich heritage, its classic design features and want these in modern cars. This might also inspire people who have not considered a Porsche 911 with this heritage style that brings back something cool from the past.
If you are in the financial position to rent or buy a Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, Aston Martin or another make of high performance car, you will need to decide which is the best option and you will also need a super car insurance quote. As with most things, there are for and against both options so let’s have a look at some of them. As a result, you may be better able to decide the best way forward.
Renting – For
Depreciation – as you will never own the vehicle you are not going to be bothered if the value of the super car you are driving drops in value.
Servicing/Mechanical Repairs – you are unlikely to be responsible for paying for the regular servicing of the vehicle or if it breaks down and needs a mechanical repair. The only thing that you may need to pay for are replacement tyres should one or more be punctured.
Poor Credit Rating – you will need to check with the rental company but you may find that you only need to put down a deposit and that no credit reference search will be required which means that it would not matter if you have a poor credit score.
Change the Car – if you decide say a couple of months into renting the Ferrari that you fancy driving around in say a Lamborghini, Aston Martin or Porsche then, subject to the terms of the rental agreement, you may be able to change it without any financial penalty enabling you to try out different super cars.
Possibly Less Expensive – when you take into account things like car loan repayments, servicing, possible depreciation and repair costs that you would have if you bought the car then you may discover that the monthly rental cost is lower than the overall monthly cost involved in buying the vehicle.
Selling the Car – this is something you will not have to worry about as you can just return it to the car rental company when no longer required.
Renting – Against
Repairs to Bodywork and Alloys – if you have a dent or scratch on the bodywork or alloy wheels then, depending upon the size of it, you will be responsible for the cost of having it repaired/possibly claiming on your high performance car insurance policy with these repairs either having to be done before you return the vehicle at the end of the rental period or completed once the vehicle has been returned to the rental company and then charged to you.
Ownership – you will never own the vehicle. So, as a limited number of supercars may actually go up in value due to them being so rare, you will not benefit financially if that were to happen.
Buying – For
Value – whilst most cars reduce in value as soon as they leave the forecourt, there are certain rare super cars that may actually increase in value meaning that when you come to sell the vehicle you may get more for it than you paid for it.
Self-esteem – let’s be honest, most car lovers would want to own the likes of an Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche and to do so must make them feel very good about themselves.
Buying outright – if you are able to pay cash for the super car then you will not have to worry about monthly rental payments or finance repayments.
Buying – Against
Maintenance – you will be responsible for having the car serviced and for having any mechanical repairs undertaken. You may initially have a period of time/miles where your warranty covers you for such things but at some point, that will no doubt come to an end and you will have to meet the maintenance costs.
Adverse credit score- if you have a bad credit file then you may find it difficult to arrange finance towards buying the car or the lender may charge you a very high interest rate.
Sale of super car – if you wish to change the vehicle for another one then you will be responsible for selling your existing vehicle or putting your car in part-exchange and may not achieve the sale price you would have hoped for.
As you can see, there are pros and cons of renting and buying a super car. Ultimately, the decision is yours but we hope that we have provided you with food for thought.
Here at AIB Insurance, we have many years experience in arranging high performance car insurance. We have a bespoke, vetted panel of quality insurers who will provide a competitive quote to insure your super car without any obligation. So, if you are looking for outstanding Lamborghini car insurance, wish to buy Ferrari car insurance, need an Aston Martin insurance quote or want to buy Porsche insurance then why not give us a call on 02380 268 351 and we will be pleased to assist.
We’ve been arranging motor insurance for almost any type of vehicle for many years now. From the modern super car through to the classic and vintage car owner including military vehicles, from the motorhome or kit-car enthusiast to those who modify or import cars we tailor insurance around our clients needs.
With a variety of the UK’s leading insurer partners our clients can arrange ‘agreed value’ cover, business use, salvage retention and discounts for garaging, security or limiting the mileage.
But can you name the 6 vehicles below we’ve recently insured? No cheating!
Airsports Insurance Bureau (AIB), the niche and high net worth insurance broker, has appointed Daley Grice as Specialist Insurance Consultant within the personal lines and high net worth team.
Daley has over 5 years of experience in the insurance industry, and brings with him a wealth of knowledge and transferable skills to nurture new and existing clients. He joins from Business Choice Direct where he worked within the commercial sales department, focussing on courier and taxi business. Prior to this Daley worked at both A-Plan Insurance and Ageas both locally in Eastleigh.
The division Daley joins within AIB specialise in meeting the insurance requirements of individuals and companies that may have high net worth, performance and exotic cars. AIB can cover vehicles such as Ferrari, Porsche and McLaren as well as collections of classics and vintage vehicles and modified, kit and imported cars. They have a broad selection of products for unusual and non-standard homes, such as thatched, flood risk and clients with higher sum insureds as well as being able to cover unoccupied, holiday homes and rentals.
Daley was born in Winchester and attended Toynbee School in Chandlers Ford. He has 2 small children, still lives locally and his claim to fame is he once met and spent a morning training with boxing legend David Haye at his gym.
In other news AIB are delighted to announce experienced team member Murray Johnston recently won the local election whilst representing the Liberal Democrats and is now Councillor for Rowner and Holbrook within the Gosport Borough.
Welcome on board Daley and well done and congratulations Murray.
On Sunday 5th June, the fourth Simply Porsche event took place in Beaulieu at the historic National Motor Museum and it will come as no surprise to our many clients to read that AIB Insurance were in attendance once more. With so many Porsches on display covering many decades, a number of motoring stands to look at as well as your ticket also providing access to the museum if you arrived in your Porsche you are sure to have enjoyed a superb day out especially as the weather was so kind to us.
The huge selection of Porsches to admire included the likes of the 911, 914, 924 and 928 classics and more recently manufactured models such as the Cayman and Boxster. In fact, as the 924 had been around for 40 years and the Boxster for 20 years, these models were parked in a group. It was a tremendous opportunity for lovers of this elite sports car to meet and talk with like-minded individuals.
Hopefully, you will have taken the opportunity to participate in the People’s Choice Awards by casting your vote as to which you felt was the most popular Porsche attending the event. As well as being presented with a prize and trophy the owner of the winning vehicle proudly drove their Porsche at the front of a line of Porsches within the grounds.
Yet again, the ladies of AIB Insurance were well received by a number of our valued Porsche owner customers at our stand who have kindly favoured us with arranging their specialist motor insurance to cover their beloved sports cars for many years. We met several long- standing customers who have attended this event on more than one occasion but it was also lovely to meet some clients for the first time. We are sure that you will agree, to be able to “put a face to a name” is undoubtedly beneficial to everyone.
We look forward to meeting you at next year’s Simply Porsche event.
Owners of motor vehicles are well aware that, unless declared SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) and kept off the public highway, it is a legal requirement to insure their vehicles. Therefore you may be somewhat surprised to read that Churchill Car Insurance has found that over 27,000 cars have been seized by 23 of the police forces around the UK so far this year because they do not have any insurance on them. In the whole of 2014, there were over 70,000 cars seized.
The worst area is in London where the Metropolitan police force has had to seize almost 10,000 cars. West Yorkshire police force is in second place having seized over 4,000 cars so far in 2015.
You may have thought that it is motorists that own older vehicles that are more likely to not bother to insure their cars. Well, surprisingly, a significant number of cars that were taken off the road by the police due to not being insured were luxury cars. The list includes 10 Bentleys, 3 Lamborghinis, 2 Ferraris, 40 Porsches, and 1,767 BMWs.
So far this year, 1,892 cars that have been seized have been sold at auction generating over £1 million. Interestingly, the most realized for one car in the last three years was £217,933. There have also been 6,736 cars scrapped raising further funds.
The penalty for someone not insuring their car is £300 plus they will get 6 points on their license. In addition, the cost of arranging car insurance will be more expensive for many years to come. Therefore, it does seem rather shortsighted of those people that are not bothering to insure their vehicles.
Here at AIB Insurance, we arrange car insurance on numerous makes and models including some of the luxury makes mentioned above. So, why not get in touch with us on 02380 268 351 and speak to an experienced member of our team to obtain a competitive quote.
AIB Launch Classic Car Offering
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