Latest news with #OlivierReza
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The Porsche 718 Spyder RS in Photos
More from Robb Report Jewelry Designer Olivier Reza on His First Brooch, Collecting Watches, and Driving a Porsche These 6 Barely Driven Porsche 911s Are Hitting the Auction Block There Are Thousands of Unsold New Chevy Corvettes at Dealers Across the U.S. Best of Robb Report The 2024 Chevy C8 Corvette: Everything We Know About the Powerful Mid-Engine Beast The World's Best Superyacht Shipyards The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht Click here to read the full article. The 493 hp Porsche 718 Spyder RS dressed in the marque's Ruby Star Neo color scheme. The 718 Spyder RS covers zero to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, knocks off a quarter-mile sprint in 11.3 seconds, and has a top speed of 191 mph. Bodywork enhancements include slats in the front wheel arches to relieve air pressure, and so-called 'NACA' ducts that slice the hood to aid brake cooling. A standard set of headrest fairings swell like ocean waves behind occupants, but necessitate the loss of the Boxster's conventional power-folding top. The 718 Spyder RS features a strikingly seamless silhouette. The naturally aspirated Spyder responds eagerly to throttle, ripping through its gears, and the aural experience changes markedly as the car runs through its rpm range. A natty ducktail spoiler curls up at the rear. Compared with its hardtop Cayman GT4 cousin, the 718 Spyder RS is tuned more for winding roads than racetracks. Whether its top is open or closed, the 718 Spyder RS immerses a driver and passenger in Nürburgring levels of intake sound, with accompaniment from a lightweight stainless-steel sport exhaust. If the 718 Spyder RS performs like an upper-shelf 911—with less weight and signature mid-engine balance—it's also priced like one at $163,650 to start.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Driving the Most Powerful Porsche Boxster Ever Is Like Being Strapped to a Firework
After 28 memorable years, the fossil-fueled Porsche Boxster is on a farewell tour (at least that's the current story), as the German automaker readies electric replacements for its 718 convertible and Cayman coupe. If this is the end of an era, these model variants are going out with a massive bang via the 718 Spyder RS. Forget what you think you know about the cutie-pie of Porsches. True to its RS moniker—which stands for rennsport ('racing' auf Deutsch)—the 718 Spyder RS is a madcap distillation of Porsche motorsport technology. The Spyder fulfills every 'what if?' fantasy of Boxster fans, beginning with the furious heart of the 911 GT3: A 4.0-liter flat-six with 493 hp, a 9,000 rpm redline, and a sound that penetrates your skull like those chip implants in Severance. Unlike that dystopian TV show, the invasive nature of this vehicle leaves pleasurable aftereffects lingering long after you park and go about your day. More from Robb Report Jewelry Designer Olivier Reza on His First Brooch, Collecting Watches, and Driving a Porsche These 6 Barely Driven Porsche 911s Are Hitting the Auction Block There Are Thousands of Unsold New Chevy Corvettes at Dealers Across the U.S. Compared with its hardtop Cayman GT4 cousin, the Spyder RS is tuned more for winding roads than racetracks. There's no roof between you and nature, and the adaptive suspension is a skosh more forgiving. To see for myself, I decide to hustle a Spyder RS from Los Angeles to Palm Springs and back, including a romp on the Palms to Pines Scenic Byway. This 62-mile asphalt amusement park climbs from cactus country into the forested Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains, before plummeting back to the desert. Throughout its history, the mid-engine Boxster has been a benchmark of balance and deft handling, a two-seater that imbues any driver with Senna-level confidence. The Spyder RS takes that performance to new heights. This is the most powerful Boxster to date, and it covers zero to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, firing off shifts through its PDK automated gearbox with seven shortened gear ratios. (Sorry, manual fans, there's no available stick.) The Porsche knocks off a quarter-mile sprint in 11.3 seconds, and will nip 191 mph while the breeze plays hell with hairstyles. One glance tells you this roadster is different. A classic MacPherson-strut front axle, its track widened by 0.27 inches versus a 718 Spyder, is borrowed directly from the track-terror 911 GT3 RS. The rear axle stretches 0.3 inches wider, and the car hunkers 1.2 inches lower. Bristling body armor includes slats in the front wheel arches to relieve air pressure from rotating wheels. So-called 'NACA' ducts slice the hood to aid brake cooling. Two more ducts direct air through the underbody and out through a rear diffuser for extra stability. A natty ducktail spoiler curls up at the rear. Weight-reduction measures include a carbon-fiber hood and fenders, trimming curb weight to a svelte 3,214 pounds. In a classic RS cue, nylon pulls replace traditional interior door handles, which surely saves an ounce or two. My Spyder RS tacked on an optional Weissach package to heighten style and shed more mass. Exposed carbon fiber forms the hood, air intakes, mirror caps, and other body parts. Another aerodynamic 'Gurney' flap integrates with the rear spoiler, with exhaust outlets tipped in titanium. Striking 20-inch forged magnesium wheels with center-locking hubs shave another 22 pounds versus standard aluminum wheels. Sound deadening? Sorry, I can't hear a word you're saying. Most dramatically, a standard set of headrest fairings swell like ocean waves behind occupants. The price of that romantic style is the loss of the Boxster's conventional power-folding top. The Spyder RS is designed mainly for postcard-perfect weather, though there is a two-piece fabric roof. The Bimini-style top will shield occupants from excess sun. A separate weather guard buttons across the back in case of serious precipitation and wind. Either piece is a fiddly, multi-step affair to erect or stow, akin to setting up a tiny pup tent. But it gets easier with practice. Advantages become clear once that top is manually rolled up and stored beneath a folding rear decklid. The Porsche's seamless silhouette makes it look achingly lovely and desirable as it glides down the road. With that naturally aspirated engine stuffed between the seats and rear axle, an extra set of intakes are integrated into the upper body, just behind of occupants' heads. Whether its top is open or closed, the 718 Spyder RS immerses a driver and passenger in Nürburgring levels of intake sound, with accompaniment from a lightweight stainless-steel sport exhaust. That aural experience changes markedly as the Porsche runs through its rpm range, from a chesty bellow down low to a high rpm shriek up top. Selecting the PDK transmission's sport mode elicits shifts to match the engine's near-instantaneous throttle response, and off you go. Inside, the Spyder RS underscores its purist-focused intent. A tidy 14-inch diameter steering wheel is trimmed in grippy Race-Tex fabric, with a center marker at the 12 O'clock position. Lightweight bucket seats with carbon fiber shells, first seen on the hybrid 918 Spyder, deny graceful entry or exit; but their aggressive bolstering is ideal for the car's dynamic capabilities. As noted, there's no clutch pedal, but the PDK gear selector mimics a stick-shift look. Tugging the stick rearward triggers manual upshifts, with a forward flick for downshifts, akin to motorsport gearboxes. Cool metal paddle shifters are the other DIY option, including a PDK sport mode with enough shift feedback to feel through a pair of driving or racing gloves. On the epic Palms to Pines route, the Boxster finds its natural habitat. It charges up behind workaday cars and SUVs, quivering with malevolent intent. Drivers—some of them, anyway—quickly pull into turnouts to let the Porsche by. With its adaptive suspension, optional Porsche Torque Vectoring, and sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, the Spyder RS locks onto pavement like a pit bull with a favorite chew toy. Optional carbon-ceramic brakes keep speeds in check when cliff drops loom ahead, managed by a powerful-yet-sensitive pedal that's ideal for left-foot braking. In contrast with today's gratuitously powered supercars and performance EVs, the Porsche makes you work a bit for speed, and is all the better for it. On paper, there's just 331 ft lbs of torque; a Ford Mustang Dark Horse makes 418 ft lbs of torque, by comparison. Instead of upchucks of turbocharged thrust, or instant electric torque, the Porsche lives for climbs to those 9,000 rpm heights. Make no mistake, the naturally aspirated Spyder responds eagerly to throttle, and rips through its gears: Fourth gear's buzzsaw is good for about 126 mph. But if some new models, EVs especially, feel like riding an express elevator—fast, but so isolating and emotionless that Kenny G should play en route to the penthouse—the Spyder RS is like being strapped to a firework. When that climax finally arrives, all sonic booms and coruscating colors, the oohs and aahs have all been earned. Ultimately, few sports cars in the world can match the Spyder RS's all-encompassing experience. If the 718 Spyder RS performs like an upper-shelf 911—with less weight and signature mid-engine balance—it's also priced like one at $163,650 to start. With the Weissach package (at $12,570), magnesium wheels ($15,640), and other options, my Spyder RS would fetch $211,090 in showrooms, prior to potential dealer markups. But with fans keenly attuned to any Porsche branded with the rare-and-sizzling RS letters, and the latest Boxster potentially marking the end of an internal-combustion era, certain collectors will be as aggressive in their pursuit as a Spyder RS hunting down rivals on the of Robb Report The 2024 Chevy C8 Corvette: Everything We Know About the Powerful Mid-Engine Beast The World's Best Superyacht Shipyards The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Teams Are Terrified:' How Restaurants Are Coping With Trump's Immigration Policies
How was your Michelin-starred dinner last night? Was the chile-ajo-mole sauce a revelation? The chestnut soufflé impossibly airy? The socarrat on the paella simply perfection? If so, you probably have the hands and skills of an immigrant to thank for that flawless experience. But if the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration and the highly publicized raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have their intended outcome, your future dinner plans might be in serious jeopardy. More from Robb Report How London's Most Innovative Chefs Are Reinventing the Classic Baba au Rhum Jewelry Designer Olivier Reza on His First Brooch, Collecting Watches, and Driving a Porsche Hypersonic Flights Could Soon Change How We Travel It's estimated that 22 percent of all food-service workers in the U.S. are immigrants, with up to half that number thought to be undocumented. The statistics are even higher at earlier stages of food production. Who do you think picks the tomatoes, harvests the eggs, and slaughters the cows? Hint: It's not the guys rushing Sigma Chi. The president's anti-immigration stance was a cornerstone of his winning campaign. If stoking fear—in immigrants both documented and undocumented, to say nothing of the chefs and restaurateurs who rely on their labor—was a side effect he hoped for, mission accomplished. Because the restaurant industry is nervous. The potential for dire consequences is so great that many chefs famous enough to go by one name were unwilling to talk (even off the record) about the impact that ICE raids could have on their businesses. To protect the chefs who did speak to me, I won't identify them, except to say that theirs are the restaurants in major American cities with loyal customers, long waiting lists, and many-starred reviews. 'The teams are terrified,' including those who have become U.S. citizens, one told me. 'Many are legacy employees who have been with our company for 10 years or more. They have a spiked sense of fear that they will get removed from the country or separated from their families.' Another added that their crew of largely Hispanic workers are 'genuinely petrified. They've shared the horrific stories—and they are all horrific—of how they got here, but they all say that this is scarier. The other day, the staff was looking to see where they could hide in the walk-in. One employee is a grandmother, [in this country] for 20 years. They have all been paying taxes.' While there have been few reports of ICE raids on restaurants, chefs and operators are taking precautions as directed by their attorneys and industry-advocacy groups, as much out of concern for the welfare of their staff as for the health of their establishments. 'If my restaurant loses 30 percent of its workforce, I have to shrink the number of covers,' one chef explains. 'It's a house of cards. Restaurants feed other industries—vendors, purveyors, farmers, ranchers. If we have to downsize, they will, too. This can have a serious, almost catastrophic effect on the economy.' Another owner was even more blunt: 'We and everyone else would never be able to stay open if all restaurants got raided and all illegals were sent away. It would all crash.' In January, the New York City Hospitality Alliance circulated a detailed guide titled 'What To Do if ICE Knocks on Your Door,' written in partnership with the law firm Fox Rothschild. One operator used the guidelines 'to teach management, and management in turn are teaching staff. But we are keeping this on a low profile.' Another told me, 'Our managers were disappointed that we weren't reassuring them that everything would be okay, but we cannot promise what we can't deliver.' It's worth noting that everyone I spoke with said the same thing about their staffs: Every employee is on the books, no one gets hired without proper ID, no one is paid under the table, and everyone pays taxes. In other words, these people are contributing to the U.S. economy and government coffers. They're contributing to the Social Security they may never end up receiving. What's also true is that no one can be totally certain whether those 'proper' IDs are legitimate. 'We know what we know, but we don't know what we don't know,' says one restaurateur. 'You can get a Social Security number on the streets that's good enough to get through the onboarding company.' Another notes: 'These people are not criminals—they are just here illegally.' Indeed, what gets too little attention in the larger immigration conversation is the fact that being undocumented is not a criminal offense. One chef adds: 'A lot of Americans don't want to do these jobs, to wash dishes for $18 an hour, to do the scrappy, hands-on, long-hours job' that working in a kitchen requires. Andrew Rigie, executive director of the N.Y.C. Hospitality Alliance, concurs. 'Immigrants are not taking jobs from Americans,' he says. 'I have never heard an American say, 'I couldn't get a job as a porter or a dishwasher at a restaurant because an immigrant took the job.' ' Of course, deportations are nothing new. One chef told me his staff, most of whom have worked at his restaurants for more than a decade, were not very concerned because 'the deportations were worse when Obama was president.' 'The immediate concern,' says Rigie, 'is related to the rhetoric from the Trump administration. But the truth is that the decades-long failure of the government to enact immigration reform has created these problems.' Given how critical to our food culture immigrants are, it's unbelievable that the path to citizenship and legal status isn't easier. I say this as the proud product of immigration—and the culinary industry. My grandfather came to America from Italy, ran a speakeasy during Prohibition, and opened a restaurant in 1939. His son, my father, became an assistant U.S. attorney, then served as a local prosecutor for decades and a state judge of workers' compensation. My brother still runs the restaurant that has been a pillar of our community since it opened. 'Immigrants are the backbone of the restaurant industry,' notes Rigie. 'Which helps make it so wonderful and delicious.' Something to consider the next time you're debating whether you can score a Thursday reservation at the new Thai, Peruvian, or Korean hot spot you've been so desperate to try. Pavia Rosati is the founder of the award-winning editorial travel website Fathom and the newsletter Way to Go. She lives between New York City and London, and she will travel for a four-hour lunch. Best of Robb Report Why a Heritage Turkey Is the Best Thanksgiving Bird—and How to Get One 9 Stellar West Coast Pinot Noirs to Drink Right Now The 10 Best Wines to Pair With Steak, From Cabernet to Malbec Click here to read the full article.
