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Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid to Debut in Geneva
Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, German labels – 1600 – 11.02.1010
By Zack Newmark
February 11, 2010 4:00 PM
Filed Under: Geneva Motor Show, German, Hybrid, Motorsport, Porsche
Porsche has developed a new hybrid version of their GT3 model, built with two electric motors. The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid will be introduced in Geneva next month with endurance testing set to begin just before summer.
However, this is not a full hybrid vehicle in the same vein as the Toyota Prius. Porsche opted to use a flywheel generator in a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS). The generator’s rotor spins up to 40,000 rpm, and combines with regenerative brakes to send up to eight-second power bursts to the electric motors.
For the car, Porsche paired their rear-mounted 4.0-liter 480-horsepower flat-six engine with two electrical motors mounted at the front. The two motors produce up to 120 kW, or roughly 161 hp.
The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid will participate in the 24 Hours on the Nordschleife of Nürburgring in mid-May.
Check out the press release below for further details.
Press Release
Porsche Intelligent Performance makes Racing Cars even More Efficient
911 GT3 R Hybrid Celebrates World Debut in Geneva
Stuttgart. Exactly 110 years after Ferdinand Porsche developed the world’s first car with hybrid drive, the Lohner Porsche Semper Vivus, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, is once again taking up this visionary drive concept in production-based GT racing: During the Geneva Motor Show, a Porsche 911 GT3 R with innovative hybrid drive is making its debut, opening up a new chapter in the history of Porsche with more than 20,000 wins in 45 years scored by the extremely successful Porsche 911 in racing trim.
The innovative hybrid technology featured in the car has been 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 developing 60 kW each supplements the 480-bhp four-litre flat-six at the rear of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid. A further significant point is that instead of the usual batteries in a hybrid road car, an electrical flywheel power generator fitted in the interior 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. Then, whenever necessary, that is when accelerating out of a bend or when overtaking, the driver is able to call up extra energy from the charged flywheel generator, the flywheel being slowed down electromagnetically in the generator mode and thus supplying up to 120 kW to the two electric motors at the front from its kinetic energy. This additional power is available to the driver after each charge process for approximately 6 – 8 seconds.
Energy formerly converted – and thus wasted – into heat upon every application of the brakes, is now highly efficiently converted into additional drive power.
Depending on racing conditions, hybrid drive is used in this case 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, for example by reducing the weight of the tank or making pitstops less frequent.
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 15th and 16th. The focus is not on the 911 GT3 R Hybrid winning the race, but rather serving as a spearhead in technology and a “racing laboratory” providing know-how on the subsequent use of hybrid technology in road-going 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.
