In the sports car world, the most emotional colour (or color for the large American audience) would likely be judged as red. Signifying passion and desire, the colour red is famously exhibited on the shapely, aerodynamic bodies of the most popular high-performance sports cars. However, as lovely a radiant red strikes at the heart of speed enthusiasts, the dark colour of black lures sports car fans presenting mystery and elusiveness. The Batmobile, Knight Rider’s KITT and the famous #3 GM Goodwrench stock car of Dale Earnhardt continuously fuels character behind the colour tone. For the 2012 model year, Porsche has channeled the tone into a special limited run 911 Black Edition.
Recently announcing a very limited edition Porsche 911 Speedster and the 911 Carrera GTS, the 911 Black Edition doesn’t present specific weigh-savings or performance enhancements but rather a presentation of the Porsche 911 at its best. To be offered in coupe and convertible body styles, a total of 1,911 examples for this Porsche 911 will begin to go on sale in spring. Coated with one of two exterior shades (Solid Black or a Basalt Black Metallic), the 2012 Porsche 911 Black Edition sails with a stealth-like appearance broken only by the vehicle lighting and the chrome exhaust tip framing. Riding on 19-inch 911 Turbo II forged wheels matching titanium and black together, the 2012 Porsche 911 Black Edition theme is continued to the four-piston aluminum monobloc brake calipers.
Black with a black interior, this special edition Porsche 911 cabin allows aluminum-painted air vents, steering wheel spokes, gear lever and dashboard to contrast the darkened environment. The biggest gain of the Porsche 911 Black Edition interior is the inclusion of high-technology infotainment gear. Giving the driver or passenger access through a center column-mounted called PCM (Porsche touch screen Communication Management). XM satellite radio, XM NavTraffic and a GPS-based navigation controls are easily in reach. Completed with a Bose Surround Sound speaker system, the interior equipment of the 2012 Porsche 911 Black Edition is said to provide customers around $6,000 of cost-savings.
A base 2012 Porsche 911, the rear-mounted 3.6 liter flat-6 engine finds 345 horsepower available as rear wheel motion on the Black Edition variants. Equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox, the shear thrill of up to 180 miles per hour can be unleashed. The 2012 Porsche 911 Black Edition can also be offered with a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission the German sports car company identifies as a PDK (Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe) gearbox. With the shifting mechanics provided through the PDK, the 2012 Porsche 911 Black Edition delivers 0 to 60 mile per hour times in under 4.5 seconds (4.5 for the convertible and 4.3 seconds for the coupe version). On the Black Edition, Porsche continues the trend of providing their ultimate 911 sports car with levelheaded fuel economy. Through the use of either transmission, EPA fuel mileage is 19 city or 27 highway.
When the limited run of 2012 Porsche 911 Black Edition coupe and convertible goes on sale, pricing will reside at a comparably modest amount. Black Edition coupes will start at $81,300 while convertible model pricing begins at $91,300.
Information and photo source: Porsche Cars North America
