Dope. #110

Image courtesy of JJM Photography.

What to watch this pre-Independence Day weekend (June 30th - July 4th)

• Australian V8 Supercars. Skycity Triple Crown, from Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Australia. Saturday @ 12pm - 2pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) delayed-airing from 6/16-6/17 
• Rolex Sports Car Series. Canadian Tire 200. From Watkins Glen International Raceway in New York. Sunday @ 11am - 5:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live; replay Sunday @ 11pm
• Renaissance Man. Marathon of all four episodes. Sunday @ 6am - 10am (VelocityHD) replay
• Wheeler Dealers. 944 Turbo and Audi Coupe Quattro. Sunday @ 5pm - 7pm (VelocityHD) great replays
• Top Gear (UK). Marathon of Season 18. Monday @ 2pm - 9pm (BBC America/BBC America HD) great replays
• Top Gear (UK). Season 2 - Episode 4. Jeremy and the gang have a Jaguar themed show. Monday @ 9pm - 10pm (BBC America/BBC America HD) new replay
• Australian V8 Supercars - Townsville 400. From Townsville Street Circuit in Queensland, Australia. Monday @ 8am - 10am (SPEED/SPEEDHD) replay
• Barrett-Jackson Automobile Auctions. Mopar special. Wednesday @ 10pm - 11pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) new
• Motorweek. Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster. Tuesday @ 8pm - 8:30pm (Velocity/VelocityHD) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Marathon. Wednesday @ 2pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) replays

This weekend is going to be a hot one, so hopefully you have your plans together to get you somewhere with a cold beverage or have them at home. Aussie V8 Supercars action on Saturday and a replay of last years Townsville 400 on Monday morning (this years race will air in two weeks on SPEED). Plenty of good Top Gear action on BBCA and they're even dusting off rare Season 2 episodes on Monday nights at 9pm. Have a safe Independence Day week(end), we'll catch ya on the other side.

Video courtesy of V8SupercarsOfficial.

Quick Vid: 2013 Panamera Turbo S (TheSmokingTire)

Our buddy Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire reviews the all new Porsche Panamera Turbo S. My wife has wanted one of these since they came out and I can only hope to afford such an awesome family hauler...poppa needs a new job.

Video courtesy of TheSmokingTire.

Quick Vid: Porsche 959 vs 911 (997) Turbo S

The gents from Autoblogger compare the classic Porsche 959 to the outgoing Porsche 911 Turbo S. What many of the younger readers may not know is that the 959 was chock full of the technologies common place in current year base 911 Carrera's, back in 1986. It was ridiculously priced for the mid 1980's as well, at ~$225k (about ~$500k in today's "money"), but can still hang with current day supercars due to its lofty specifications: AWD, a twin turbocharger delivered 444hp, zero to 62 in 3.7 seconds and lightweight materials providing a ~3200 lb curb weight. The lessons learned from this Group B technical exercise paved the way for the current 911 (997.2) Turbo S.

Video courtesy of Autoblogger.

Car Pron: The Hidden workshops of Porsche Classic (Drive)

Today kicks off another Porsche week here at ROTL and this video makes us all sorts of happy. When I was in Stuttgart last summer I got a small taste of one of the Porsche workshops. When you exit the inner Porsche museum, the final merchandising area before leaving the building has a large glass wall to the right that you can see right through. What's back there you might ask? All of the non-displayed museum cars that are being serviced and a small team of veteran mechanics working on them.

When exiting to the underground parking garage you get to see even more goodies. Not as many goodies as you'll see in the Drive special below, but plenty of classic Porsche race cars and rare road going models. I haven't had the time to finish editing my entire set from last year, but for the ROTL regulars I've found time to dig up a couple for this very post.

Now that you're primed, enjoy the the vid.

Video courtesy of Drive.