Juicy gossip from the Top Car grapevine

PORSCHE’S 911 is also downsizing its engines, though not as radically as Cayman and Boxster. This autumn’s 991.2 introduces a 276kW 2.7-litre turbo in the base Carrera, while the Carrera S adopts a 313kW 3.0 turbo. Sources say the engines deliver massively enhanced torque curves and doubledigit fuel economy savings. But it doesn’t mean the end of the road for the naturally aspirated sixes: the GT3 RS’s 368kW 4.0-litre has evolution potential, sources say. Talking of hallowed German performance badges, how will VW develop the GTI badge? ‘For the time being, it only applies to Golf and Polo,’ says a Wolfsburg source. But with the future of the Golf cabriolet tentative, next newbie GTI will be a Beetle or Scirocco. The latter would be a proper TT rival, the bug approach is part of the plan to make America’s VW dynamically sharper in future. McLaren poked fun at Bentley, Aston and Lambo when it announced its 2014 pre-tax profit of $26 million. Automotive boss Mike Flewitt flashed up images of their SUVs (including Lambo’s Urus, above) with a massive cross through them. ‘We are a sports car company,’ he said. ‘We won’t push resource into other areas – there’s more than enough competition in this SUV segment for now…’ Lotus chief Jean-Marc Gales (below) has quietly started preparing fans for the next-gen Elise. He told us that customers wanted cars that were easier to get in and out of, had ‘competitive infotainment’ and mooted ‘maybe getting some servo-assistance on the small cars.’ The next Elise and Exige ‘will be faster, lighter but also easier to live with.’ Expect them late 2016. Although Lotus will post another reduced loss for 2015, headcount should be back above 2014 levels by the end of this year. The green shoots look to be appearing in Norfolk…