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Introducing the 911 GT3 R HybridPorsche Intelligent Performance makes Racing Cars even More Efficient

Introducing the 911 GT3 R Hybrid - Porsche Intelligent Performance makes Racing Cars even More Efficient

Australia. A new chapter in Porsche Motorsport will be written at next month’s Geneva Motor Show when Porsche unveils its latest GT3 race car with hybrid drive.

Exactly 110 years after Ferdinand Porsche developed the world’s first car with hybrid drive – the Lohner Porsche Semper Vivus – the new GT3 R Hybrid brings innovative hybrid technology developed especially for racing, standing out significantly in its configuration and components from conventional hybrid systems.

In this case, electrical front axle drive with two electric motors each developing 60 kW supplements the 353 kW four-litre flat-six engine at the rear of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid. Significantly, instead of the usual batteries in a hybrid road car, an electrical flywheel generator positioned next to the driver delivers energy to the electric motors.

The flywheel generator itself is an electric motor with its rotor spinning at speeds of up to 40,000 rpm, storing energy mechanically as rotation energy. The flywheel generator is charged whenever the driver applies the brakes, with the two electric motors reversing their function on the front axle and acting themselves as generators.

When accelerating out of a corner or overtaking the driver can then use this electric energy from the charged flywheel generator, the flywheel being slowed electromagnetically in the generator mode to supply up to 120 kW to the two front electric motors. The extra power is available for approximately 6 - 8 seconds after each charge.

Depending on racing conditions, hybrid drive is used not only for extra power, but also to save fuel. This again increases the efficiency and, accordingly, the performance of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid by reducing the weight of the fuel tank or the need to make extra pit stops.

After its debut in Geneva the 911 GT3 R Hybrid will be tested in long-distance races on the Nürburgring. The highlight of this test programme will be the 24 Hours on the Nordschleife of Nürburgring on May 15 and 16 where the car will be used as a “racing lab.”

Technology gained will subsequently be used in hybrid technology for road-going Porsche sports cars.

The 911 GT3 R Hybrid is a perfect example of the Porsche Intelligent Performance philosophy, a principle to be found in every Porsche: More power on less fuel, more efficiency and lower CO2 emissions – on the track and on the road.

24/2/2010