What is it?
Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid
What's special about it?
Porsche has applied its latest hybrid technology to create a spectacular all-wheel-drive racing car, the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid.
Scheduled to debut at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show, this is a derivative of the recently introduced 911 racer for customers, the 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Michael Macht, Porsche's new chairman, has promised that the company will soon return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a factory-supported racing car, and the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid previews new hybrid technology that the company is developing for its new purpose-built racer.
The GT3 R Hybrid will be used as what the Porsche engineers describe as a "racing laboratory" to gather knowledge about hybrid drive under the pressure of a racing environment. At the same time it will also advance the German carmaker's plans to introduce hybrid technology to selected road cars in its lineup. Indeed, a gasoline-electric hybrid was recently spied testing at the Porsche R&D facility at Weissach, near the company's headquarters in Stuttgart, apparently part of a program dubbed "Porsche Intelligent Performance."
In a departure from conventional battery-based electric systems used for hybrid drive by makers of both street cars and even racing cars, the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid features a flywheel system. It gathers kinetic energy under braking to power two electric motors that are mounted in a single assembly connected to the front wheels. After each charge, the motors provide 6-8-second bursts of power.
The flywheel will spin as fast as 40,000 rpm. In the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, it's mounted where the passenger seat ordinarily would be and connected to the electric assembly in the front by a high-voltage cable. Two electronic management modules oversee the complete hybrid system, and the electric motors are engaged by pressing a button mounted on the steering wheel.
The electric motors provide a burst of 120 kilowatts (161 horsepower) to the front wheels, supplementing the 911 GT3 R Hybrid's 480-hp 4.0-liter flat-6 that powers the rear wheels. The benefit, according to Porsche, is quicker acceleration out of corners and during overtaking, and there are apparently unspecified fuel savings as well.
No official performance claims for the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid have been made prior to its unveiling in Geneva, but Porsche has confirmed the new car will appear at the Nürburgring 24 Hours on May 15. Meanwhile, Porsche's new purpose-built racing car with hybrid technology is expected to be prepared for the 2012 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, when the race's regulations will favor hybrid racing cars.
Inside Line says: Porsche is embracing hybrid technology, but naturally it's doing so in the Porsche way, which means racing. — Andreas Stahl, Contributor
Add A Comment »
charlesb says:
07:55 PM, 02/19/2010
I remember reading years ago about cars that used massive flywheels as driving devices. I believe they had gyroscopic "issues" that prevented them from ever being a practical real world solution.
santiagofdz says:
12:04 PM, 02/11/2010
@compressor.
+1! Exactly. Actually Mclaren-Mercedes went trough something similar last year. At the start of the year with the kers, they transffered know how from the car industry into the racing team; but they managed to evolve the tech so quickly that by years end the knowledge was transfering from F1 to the road car division.
Something similar is bound to happen in this case, Williams F1 didn't make a separate company devoted to hybrid power via flywheels (the unit in the Porsche is made by Williams) if it didn't intend on making a profit outside F1. I have high hopes for this system.
isaacl says:
11:32 AM, 02/11/2010
Wow, this is intriguing. It's always neat to see different systems presented on improving the efficiency of internal-combustion cars. Especially those that race.
cr_driver says:
09:19 AM, 02/11/2010
The porsche way....nice
compressor says:
08:30 PM, 02/10/2010
The KERS system as a whole may not readily transfer to street car, but the knowledge gained in packaging, reliability, and integration of electric motor drive will benefit road going cars in the future.
says:
08:07 PM, 02/10/2010
Thats a pretty significant power boost especially considering its all from kinetic energy. Neat stuff, though I don't see how this could be adapted to a street car that isn't braking forcefully every couple seconds.