Porsche reveals 911 Hybrid
The Porsche GT3 R Hybrid points the way toward a future hybrid sports car.
cnn.com
Porsche revealed images late Wednesday of its first hybrid sports car, a track car it plans to unveil at the Geneva Motor show next month.
While you won't be able to park this car in your driveway -- it's a race car intended for LeMans endurance racing -- it is based on the same production 911 you can buy today. A future 911 hybrid for public consumption is "open for discussion," a Porsche spokesman said.
A couple of years ago, Porsche executives were saying that a hybrid Porsche sports car was a long shot, at best.
Porsche has long been working on hybrids, just not sports cars. Hybrid versions of its SUV and its new four-door car are on the way.
Sports cars are a bigger challenge though. The added hardware required by a hybrid threatens to bog down a sports car and upset its critical weight balance.
But some technological advances have made this car possible, Porsche says. Still, a deeper look into GT3 R hybrid reveals a car that's strictly for the professional driver.
In the GT3 R Hybrid, two electric motors power the front wheels while a gasoline engine drives the rear wheels.
The GT3 R Hybrid has no batteries, which would add too much weight. Instead, energy is stored using a flywheel generator that can spin at up to 40,000 rpm. Power is sent to the flywheel generator during braking and that power is available for six to eight seconds following each charge.
When the driver wants the extra boost -- as much 160 horsepower -- from the electric motors, he presses a button the steering wheel. That extra power comes in addition to the 480 horsepower produced by the GT3's 4.0-liter six-cylinder engine. The extra boost can be useful in accelerating out of a turn or when passing another car.
Besides adding power for accelerating and passing, the hybrid system can also be used, simply to save fuel. Saving fuel reduces pit stops that take precious minutes, but it also saves weight, as the car needs to carry less fuel on board.
Other automakers have used hybrid cars in endurance racing before, as well as fuel efficient hi-tech diesel engines.
The GT3 Hybrid will make its first racing appearance on the track in Germany in mid-March. Porsche is keeping expectations low, saying the focus isn't on winning the race, but on using the GT3 Hybrid as a "racing lab" to gather information that could be used in future Porsche street cars.
This is economy, tech and style combined, isnt it?