MAY 20, 2020

(Porsche images)
Porsche is introducing the all-wheel drive 911 Targa 4 and 911 Targa 4S models, based on the new 911 generation. Both 911 Targa models are powered by a six-cylinder, three-liter twin-turbo boxer engine. The 911 Targa 4 has 379HP and accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 4.0 seconds when equipped with PDK and the optional Sport Chrono Package – one tenth quicker than the previous model. The 911 Targa 4S has 443HP and reaches 60 mph in 3.4 seconds with PDK and the optional Sport Chrono Package – four tenths quicker than its predecessor. The top track speed of the new 911 Targa 4 is 179 mph, while the 4S peaks at 188 mph. Both models are fitted with an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission (PDK) and intelligent all-wheel drive Porsche Traction Management (PTM) as standard. The 911 Targa 4S can also be ordered with a seven-speed manual transmission at no charge, which includes the Sport Chrono package as standard. The new 2021 911 Targa models are available to order now and are expected to reach U.S. dealers in late 2020. How much? Bring lots of ca$h-ola: The 2021 911 Targa 4 is $119,300. And the 2021 911 Targa 4S is $135,200 (not including a $1,350 delivery, processing and handling fee).

(Alfa Romeo images)
In preparation for Alfa Romeo’s 110th anniversary - to be officially celebrated on June 24, 2020 - the brand is launching a comprehensive heritage package that highlights key moments in its illustrious history. Headlining the heritage package is an interactive e-book, which spans from the brand’s very beginning in 1910, when the first A.L.F.A., the 24HP, was introduced, to today and beyond, with such vehicles as the limited-edition Giulia GTA and the upcoming Tonale crossover. 

“Did you know?” facts include:

Did you know the Alfa Romeo logo combines the emblem of the city of Milan and the "Biscione Visconteo," the coat of arms of the Visconti family, which ruled medieval Milan?
Did you know Alfa Romeo won the very first Formula 1 championship in 1950? And the second Formula 1 championship in 1951, with Juan Manuel Fangio securing the title?
Did you know Enzo Ferrari drove for the Alfa Romeo racing team prior to leaving to establish his own car company?
Did you know Hollywood stars from the 1940s aspired to drive Alfa Romeos, especially rare models such as the 6C 2500 Super Sport?
Did you know that the Alfa Romeo 156 D2 race car introduced in 1998 went on to win 13 touring car championships?

All of this and more are detailed in this heritage package, including all of the photography, much of which comes from the archive at the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo in Arese, Italy, and a short video synopsis. Additional content package highlights include: 

"My Favorite Alfa Romeo Cars," by Ralph Gilles, Head of Design, FCA.
"Most Significant Performance Cars From Alfa Romeo," by Lorenzo Ardizio, Curator Museo Storico Alfa Romeo.
Evolution of the Biscione logo.
And, the story behind the Trefoil “face.”

(VW images)
The VW Golf GTI remains our favorite all-around car, by far, but we're not alone. Launched at the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) in September 1975, it created an automotive category that hadn’t actually existed until that moment — sporty front-wheel-drive compacts — or hot hatches. With its six successors to date, it has become the world’s most successful hot hatch with more than 2.3 million units having been produced by the end of 201. Now, 45 years after the first GTI, VW is ready to release the eighth generation of the GTI. Compared with its predecessor, the new Golf GTI body has become lower, longer and even sportier. Designers created each body part from scratch and worked with the aerodynamicists to hone the vehicle in the wind tunnel. The drag coefficient (Cd) of the basic model dropped from 0.3 to 0.275 and the aerodynamics have been improved by a range of individual measures: Cd-optimized exterior mirrors, aerodynamic corners, a bespoke GTI roof spoiler, extensive underbody panels and aerodynamically refined wheelarch linings. The car also features a range of traditional and completely new exterior features. The red strip in the radiator grille is a must for a GTI and stretches across the vehicle’s entire front end above the radiator grille, merging with the fenders. For the first time, the red GTI strip is refined by a parallel LED crossbar below it, which gives the Golf GTI a new and unmistakable light signature.
The eighth Golf GTI is the most digital GTI of all time. Its entire electronic architecture has been created from scratch. And that changes everything. The new generation of software and hardware is tangible inside and when driving the vehicle. On the interior, drivers have access to a digitally-networked world of displays and controls. This enables the driver to customize the visual look and technology of their Golf GTI more intuitively, and in greater detail, than ever before. The driver can decide on functions including the color range of the background lighting and the individual configuration of the infotainment system. The Digital Cockpit also has a greater influence on the engine sound and the Golf GTI’s handling characteristics than previously. Other interior highlights include new sport seats with integrated head restraints that are reminiscent of the first Golf GTI, thanks to their red stitching and a tartan “Scalepaper” style fabric on the seat and backrest areas. The new multifunction sport steering wheel has been specifically designed with a red appliqué and the GTI badge. The new engine Start/Stop button comes as standard in the Golf GTI and pulses red until the engine has been started. Other standard features include a single-zone automatic climate control, the Press & Drive comfort start system, Bluetooth mobile phone pairing, LED headlights, taillight clusters, and LED daytime running lights, LED reading lights and two USB-C ports. This range of equipment has been extended significantly for the GTI.
The new Golf GTI is powered by a 242HP (180 kW) 2.0-liter turbocharged direct-injection EA888 evo4 TSI® engine, with maximum torque of 273 pound-feet (370 Nm). The TSI unit is coupled with a standard manual six-speed transmission or an optional seven-speed dual-clutch automatic (DSG®). The electronically limited top speed is 155 mph in both cases. 
The new Vehicle Dynamics Manager control system makes its debut in the Golf GTI, controlling the XDS® electronic differential lock, the VAQ electronically-controlled, torque-sensing, limited-slip differential that is now standard, and also the lateral dynamics of the optional DCC® adaptive damping system. Drivers can customize their setup using the standard driving mode selection feature and a more finely adjustable DCC system. Sharper driving dynamics guarantee an enhanced and unadulterated driving experience as the eighth Golf GTI handles extremely accurately, virtually eliminating understeer, according to VW PR minions. 
The exhaust system’s tailpipes, arranged either side of the rear diffuser, as well as chrome/red GTI badges on the front fenders, the hatch and on the radiator grille are also specific to the Golf GTI. Every new Golf GTI is fitted with assist systems such as the Lane Assist lane keeping system, Autonomous Emergency Braking (Front Assist) with Pedestrian and Cyclist Monitoring, and the XDS electronic differential lock. We don't know when the new GTI will officially arrive here, as of yet.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Our L.A.-based correspondent, Tom Pease, weighs in on why recycling doesn’t always work. -PMD

SOMETIMES YOU CAN’T EVEN GET WHAT YOU WANT.

By Tom Pease

Beverly Hills. Peter, you likely have an idea how much it pains me to type this as a bona-fide Westside Lib, but recycling kind of doesn't work, and here's why: All it takes is one fu#$tard to ruin it. I live in a building that has private pick-up for 42 units. We have a trash dumpster (with trash chute) and six large recycling bins in the garage. I have sent emails, left notices, done everything but carved instructions on what is and what is not recycling backwards on the foreheads of some of these idiots so they could read it in the mirror, but I still see people putting things from non-recyclable plastics, to pizza boxes with the pizza in them, to bagged dog doo in the recycling. I mean, really, dog doo?

Now, if the company taking the bins sees it, they won't empty it. If they don't, it gets into the batch and that batch is eventually tagged as ruined and goes to the landfill. Some cities in LA that have communal bins have given up on separate recycling ones for just this reason: some people are either too selfish, too stupid, or both to walk the extra two feet to put their leftover Little Caesars and Fido's latest BM in the trash. These cities have given up and pay extra to have the separating done at the facility.

I am all for recycling, but when I see one of those self-centered d-bags tossing a half-finished Frappuccino in the blue bin I want to go Beverly Sutphin on their keisters. (5 points if you can name the movie.)

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: This is our West Coast correspondents‘ week, apparently. Now that we’ve heard from Tom Pease, Dave Guyette is weighing in. -PMD

PLEASE TELL TOM HE’S GOT IT EASY IN L.A.

By Dave Guyette

Portland. At least Mr Pease *has* a dumpster.  In Portlandia, you get grief.

Whenever I have to throw something away, I have to look for the proper receptacle. It gets specialized around here. There's a brown bin for paper, a green bin for compost, a yellow bucket for glass, and a blue bin for recyclables. These bins all have a picture of three arrows in a circle, but many have stickers of happy faces applied so you can feel good about yourself for using them. They take branding too far.

The bin labeled “co-mingled recyclables” makes me envious that the trash is having more sex than I am. At long last, I come to the bin labeled “landfill.” A disgusting-looking picture of refuse is stamped on the front, as if this were an anti-smoking ad wrapping a pack of Marlboros. Am I supposed to be shamed every time I clean up?

What I want is a box/bin/can/whatever that just says "sh*t you don't want anymore" and leave it at that. A dumpster says that without any labels attached. It also says “whatever is in here, is free,” allowing licence to the dumpster-diver. 

I'm sick and tired of these euphemisms. There's a “battery center" for acid-leaking batteries you shouldn't touch, a “reclamation center” for leftover building materials that don't fit, an “oil dropoff” for motor sludge, a “transfer center” ... for whatever you want to “transfer,” and a “hazardous waste drive thru" lane you enter to safely dispose of... things more unsafe than previously mentioned.

And heaven forbid, we have a “junkyard” within the city limits. No, instead... cars that die go to “Carvana” now, except for the Teslas... because nobody in this town will give up on them.

AE Song Lyrics of the Week:


Oh I must have left some stones unturned or could be quite a few
There's a lot I've overlooked and never knew
There's some things you learn while getting burned
Don't feel good at the time
Playing by your set of rules pretending that you'll never lose
But I know better now yeah I know better now
It just took a while to figure it out

There's so much to take for granted when life is going well
When the tides will turn no one can tell
Some wise men knew that played the blues
That no one has hardly heard
The high cost of fooling yourself not mentioning everyone else
But I know better now yeah I know better now
It just took a while to figure it out
Some mysteries hang on the breeze

And we'll all go to some big hotel where weary hearts can rest
Getting and giving more of the faith and the hope and the love
I know better now yeah I know better now
It just took a while to figure it out
It just took me a while to figure it out 

"I Know Better Now" - by Jim Lauderdale. The most memorable version of this song is exquisitely performed by Kelly Willis (Producer Don Was.) Listen to it here. Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group. ℗ 1993 MCA Nashville. Released on 1-1-1993.