What is it?
Porsche 918 RSR Hybrid
What's special about it?
With the Porsche 918 RSR, you have what is essentially the least "green" hybrid ever. That's because it's not really meant to be green. This is a racecar, or as Porsche refers to it, "a racing laboratory."
Sure, it has electric motors, two of them actually, but they're not really meant to do anything more than give this car more power. Seems logical enough, until you realize that the 918 RSR already has over 560 horsepower courtesy of its gasoline-fired V8. Does anybody really "need" more than 560 hp? Porsche does.
Maybe you remember the 918 Spyder concept from last year's Geneva auto show? It was a technological wonder, but didn't look like it would last very long on an actual piece of pavement. The 918 RSR, on the other hand, is a fully developed racecar. It uses a carbon-fiber monocoque and has gullwing doors and 19-inch, centerlock wheels. It's all business inside the car as well, with straightforward rocker switches on the dash and the big flywheel accumulator sitting shotgun.
That flywheel accumulator is what gives the RSR its edge. It captures power under braking and then stores it using an electric motor that spins at 36,000 rpm. When more boost is required, it feeds the two 75-kW motors that power the front wheels, a combination that Porsche says gives the 918 RSR a total of 767 hp for bursts of up to 8 seconds. That ought to do it.
As cool as this all sounds, don't expect to see a 918 hitting the streets anytime soon. Porsche said the RSR is all about research, even though it has already announced plans for a production 918. Expect the road-going version to show up looking a bit tamer than the RSR and with considerably less than 767 total hp on tap.
Inside Line says: Is it any surprise that Porsche would build the coolest hybrids? Racecar or not, the 918 RSR is still a sight to behold. — Ed Hellwig, Editor
Add A Comment »
koofta says:
09:17 AM, 01/08/2012
@smallfield
that is why this car is for Tommys who"shore play a mean pinball"
serriously though, appreciate the technical insight and consideration.
paulvincent1 says:
05:27 PM, 01/23/2011
It would be great to see one on the Interstate some day.
nabooli22 says:
04:25 AM, 01/21/2011
wow
nabooli22 says:
04:25 AM, 01/21/2011
wooooowwwww
fogd0r says:
12:49 PM, 01/11/2011
This car is such a looker, the Carerra GT pales by comparison. Even though I will never be able to afford one, I hope a road-going version is eventually offered. I could accept the loss of the flywheel; what's the point owning a car like this without a beautiful woman in the passenger seat?
joespeed says:
10:40 PM, 01/10/2011
soooooooooooooooo sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.......!
smallfield says:
07:37 PM, 01/10/2011
@Compressor
"The only risk I see is if the mounts for the KERS system break in a crash. Gyroscopic forces would make that thing dance around in that cabin like a pinball."
That's all I was getting at. The flywheel from your car isn't sitting in the passenger seat. I had a MechE friend working on these a decade and a half ago and safe impact containment canned the project.
Few engines have 8 seconds of 217hp stored up in any single part. It is more worrisome when that part is experimental ;)
Either way, you're right. We accept many higher risk issues we are more accustomed to. If you think about a 1-2 kilowatt/h battery discharge or the energy in a tank of gas those are much worse. I get this is "only" 0.36 kW/h in storage by 8sec/60/60*161kW and less energy than many other things.
BTW, The car is a work of beauty
compressor says:
06:20 PM, 01/10/2011
@ smallfield,
They keep it contained with a bearing and a housing, just like any other rotating device. Frankly, a motor spinning at 40,000rpm seems much safer than an reciprocating engine spinning at 10,000rpm. A motor/gen essentially has 1 spinning mass. An recip engine has lots of little parts being yanked back and forth extremely quickly. We just think an engine is safe because we are used to it.
The only risk I see is if the mounts for the KERS system break in a crash. Gyroscopic forces would make that thing dance around in that cabin like a pinball.
vetteboy68 says:
05:20 PM, 01/10/2011
That is absolutely gorgeous
smallfield says:
03:04 PM, 01/10/2011
Porsche doesn't tell you what happens if the energy storing wheel escapes, do they? I wonder how they keep it contained.
I do like the look. Very flux capacitor for a Porsche like. Bigger tubes and gear.