Take a look at Porsche’s lineup and you’ll notice one great big gaping hole. There are sportscars of every flavor – hardtops and convertibles ranging from the Boxster to the Cayman and nearly every conceivable iteration of the iconic 911 the inventive minds in Stuttgart can think up – along with two differently sized crossovers and one high-performance sedan.

So, what’s the problem? There isn’t a single grand touring coupe in the mix.

As such, it’s not surprising that rumors of a Porsche 928 revival have been spreading like wildfire across the dry plains of the internet over the last several years. The logical reasoning sees Porsche shortening itsPanamera platform and ejecting the rear seat to make such a grand touring coupe, which would leave the manufacturer with a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive machine in the tradition of its old 928.

According to the Brits at Autocar, such a beast could be christened, rather imaginatively, 929 and be ready for the market as early as 2014, coinciding with the launch of the second-generation Panamera. For those not keeping track, it’s widely thought that same platform could spawn a new coupe to join the Bentley Continental, and if that’s the case, development costs could be split between Bentley and Porsche, which both operate under the massive Volkswagen umbrella of influence.

Just as interestingly, rumor has it that, in addition to compacting it for a coupe, Porsche has ideas of lengthening the Panamera platform and is also considering a shooting brake.

We have to remind ourselves to breath deeply at these high-tech junctures in the road. Porsche is still first and foremost a remarkable sports car company that we all love and adore for so many reasons. In recent years, yes, Porsche has challenged all of us with some product and tech moves that have caused a groundswell of debate. But the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen based company still continually makes the lion’s share of enthusiasts dream big.

We have just been brought to the company’s hardcore research & design center in Weissach in the verdant farm country just outside of Stuttgart to drive special Panamera S test mules equipped with the most recent iteration of an ECU-software development that Porsche knows is going to make people like us fret. Until we actually experience it first hand.

Adaptive Cruise Control is a pretty quotidian option these days, especially on larger Porsches that get driven regularly in busy highway traffic. It’s a good idea that’s been serving owners faithfully since its introduction.

But we’ve just tried the next phase in ACC development, called ACC InnoDrive, short for Innovative Drive. It’s officially part of the Intelligent Drive Strategy sub-group within the Porsche Intelligent Performance umbrella. The InnoDrive system takes ACC into areas of our driving lives that a Porsche shopper would never have imagined from the brand just 10 years ago. Mercedes-Benz, Audi, maybe BMW, you bet. But the winningest company in racing?

If nothing else, the 2012 911 Turbo S Edition 918 Spyder wins the contest for the Porsche with the longest and perhaps clumsiest name ever. But after a day of driving it on good roads all around Stuttgart’s farm country and blasting along the no-limit Autobahn, however, we break down like always and decide it’s pretty damned cool to possess any 911 Turbo S whatsoever.

What’s ultimately best about this admittedly opportunistic offering from Porsche’s marketing department is that it doesn’t cost one red cent more than the standard 530-horsepower 911 Turbo S – $160,700 for the coupe or $172,100 for the convertible. You just know that they talked about charging more in a meeting. “Perhaps we should charge $10,000 more, c’mon. That’s a cool $10 million!” You know they did.

Besides, even more than a normal 911, you probably can’t afford one anyway, so there’s no reason to start bellyaching. That’s because only 918 units of this special Turbo S trim are being shifted out the door at Zuffenhausen, and they are offered only to those magnates who will have their “people” stand in line to fetch a$845,000 Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid. You do not have to buy the accompanying Turbo S 918 edition, but as a Porsche spokesperson tells us, “so far, all 918 Spyder customers have taken their matching-number Turbo S.” (A report we have been given reason to doubt, but…) Naturally, the numbers on the little badges inside match, which is totally cute. Our tester was numbered “000,” which automatically made us cooler than anyone.

We’re big fans of Porsche’s Boxster and Cayman, and it appears we’re not alone. Porsche is celebrating 300,000 Cayman and Boxster models sold, almost exactly 15 years after the first roadster left the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen plant in Germany. The lion’s share of those sports cars have been convertibles – the hard-hatted Cayman didn’t join the party until 2005 as a 2006 model.

To put an exclamation point on production vehicle number 300,000, Porsche went all-out by building a Boxster Spyder with Platinum Silver paint and Carrera red leather interior. The undoubtedly hot ride will go to a lucky customer in Germany.

With a classy design and peerless handling, we’re not at all surprised that Porsche has sold 300,000 copies of its mid-engined Boxster and Cayman. Hit the jump to read over Porsche’s press release.

After leading the 2011 24 Hours of Nürburgring race for eight hours last year, the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybridwas forced to retire after its combustion engine’s valve spring failed less than two hours before the race’s conclusion. This year, the team returned with a revised hybrid system that weighs about 20 percent less and delivers about 40 more horsepower. It proved very competitive, as the GT3 R Hybrid 2.0 won the VLN race at this circuit just three weeks ago.

As a result, and with just over a week before the famed 24-hour Nürburgring event, organizers chose to slap an air intake restrictor on the combustion engine, knocking it down to 448 horsepower (last year’s engine was rated 480). Calculated over one lap, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid 2.0 now delivers a lower system output than last year’s vehicle with a combustion engine, says Porsche.

The team and drivers are understandably frustrated with this last-minute ruling. Not only does it reduce top speed on the straights, but it forces to drivers to push the the hybrid powertrain much harder just to stay competitive. With the handicap, the GT3 R Hybrid qualified 18th. “This further reduction in performance by the organizers is incomprehensible to us,” says Porsche Head of Motorsport, Hartmut Kristen. “There are no data from the two test races as part of the 2011 Nürburgring Long Distance Championship that would provide the basis for such a grading.”