[WEC] Porsche GTP / Hypercar: factory and customer

[carbon_titanium]

after "challenge" and "easier" I would like to use a third word for '18 regs: sustainability. Current extreme hybrid-centric regs are too expensive!!! also manufacturers struggle to stick with it. Year by year they need to invest more money, and if the season is a failure, they just thrown money down in the toilet, as toyota did in 2015 and a bit audi too.
I would like to see more beatifull, simpler and cheaper lmp1 cars. And the road is pretty simple to me:

1. Just bring aero and chassis regs. of current lmp2 cars and use it as base for next lmp1 generation. I'm quite sure that ligier and oreca05 bodyworks produce more downforce than late 2014 audi/porsche/toyota.

2. 4MJ as top energetic class with mandatory use of "conventional" devices like kers that has been used in F1 until 2013 (basically the configuration of the 908 hybrid4)

3. engine freedom as is it now but increased fuel flow close to 100kg/h and larger fuel tank, to reach at least 600hp from thermal engine.

In this way, manufacturers will spend much less in R&D and won't need to project and build a complete new car year by year to stay competitive. And at the end, these rules could be attractive for other manufacturers that would like to jump in but without f1 like costs (I mean manufacturers more serious than nissan of course)

[Spyderman]

I think those set of rules could mean one thing: Goodbye Porsche; Hello Peugeot.

[Mike E]

'Outside of motorsports' could just mean a move to the road car division.
Porsche are working on hybrid and all electric road cars which must be challenging work.

[gustavobamba]

Originally Posted by Mike E

'Outside of motorsports' could just mean a move to the road car division.
Porsche are working on hybrid and all electric road cars which must be challenging work.

If Porsche wants to keep winning in Le Mans, they need to sell cars and the future is electric.... Mission E will probably be the most important car for Porsche in the next decade.

[Madkart]

Originally Posted by gustavobamba

If Porsche wants to keep winning in Le Mans, they need to sell cars and the future is electric.... Mission E will probably be the most important car for Porsche in the next decade.

"The future is electric"... I would honestly hold on to that thought. I read the other day an extremely interesting article about electric vehicles and a few remarks regarding how harmful making vehicle batteries can be to the environment. Now I'm no tree hugger, but I know someday once people start reading more of these articles, I'm sure we'll have a huge debate regarding this subject... you know how it goes. But, coming back to Porsche, yes, they have been releasing too many new projects lately and now with this new rumor about a mid-engined GT car, I'm sure they're working on something very unique for 2018.

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by Madkart

... they have been releasing too many new projects lately and now with this new rumor about a mid-engined GT car, I'm sure they're working on something very unique for 2018.

I'm no longer so sure that the rumored mid-engine car is so mid-engined after all.
Walliser pretty much confirmed that the new GTE car will be 911 based.

[Madkart]

Originally Posted by Spyderman

I'm no longer so sure that the rumored mid-engine car is so mid-engined after all.
Walliser pretty much confirmed that the new GTE car will be 911 based.

For 2016, yes. 2017 project is still in development.

[Spyderman]

I was talking about the 2017 car.

[GasperG]

Originally Posted by Madkart

"The future is electric"... I would honestly hold on to that thought. I read the other day an extremely interesting article about electric vehicles and a few remarks regarding how harmful making vehicle batteries can be to the environment. Now I'm no tree hugger, but I know someday once people start reading more of these articles, I'm sure we'll have a huge debate regarding this subject... you know how it goes. But, coming back to Porsche, yes, they have been releasing too many new projects lately and now with this new rumor about a mid-engined GT car, I'm sure they're working on something very unique for 2018.

It's not about tree hugging, electric simply means a better overall car for the owner. We may not be there yet, but we soon will be.

[carbon_titanium]

Originally Posted by Spyderman

I think those set of rules could mean one thing: Goodbye Porsche; Hello Peugeot.

it may be, but if rules will keep on be so expensive, to me could mean one thing:
Goodbye Porsche; Toyota and Audi (that could quit however after 2017), Hello nobody.

[Spyderman]

I don't want to get into a whole "cost cutting" rules argument. It's pointless. The rules will be whatever the ACO (with Manufacturer's input) decide they will be. The consequences will be what they will be. We can discuss then.

[Madkart]

Originally Posted by Spyderman

I was talking about the 2017 car.

"Head of Porsche Motorsport Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser has confirmed to Sportscar365 that an all-new Porsche 911 RSR is in the works, which is understood to feature some radical changes under the bodywork. Walliser said development on the new car has been ongoing for the past six months, with plans to begin on-track testing by the middle of next year."

"Walliser did confirm that a bespoke mid-engine Porsche GTE car was in the pipeline, initially for 2016, but the decision was made to instead remain with a 911-based model instead."

2017 is still in the works accodiring to this article. Can't seem to find a newer one regarding the subject.

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/p...-car-for-2017/

[Spyderman]

I remember that, but was it not awaiting waivers?
I also don't understand why they would adapt a rear-engined platform rather than using a platform specifically designed for that purpose (918).
Also - 911 platform is not carbon like the opposition.
Lets see.

Also - In the article: "Walliser did confirm that a bespoke mid-engine Porsche GTE car was in the pipeline, initially for 2016, but the decision was made to instead remain with a 911-based model instead."

[gustavobamba]

Is that possible that Porsche is doing like Ford... built a race car that will later be transformed into a road car?!?!?!?!?!?

[Spyderman]

Every thing is possible, however, consider the following:
Porsche will launch a very powerful (rumored +/-700bhp) GT2RS 911 in 2017. It makes sense that this would serve as the homologation car for the 2017 GTE.
If this is the case, then once again we would have the GT2RS serving as the homologation car for GTE and the GT3 for the R.
I suspect that this may very well be the case; what is still not clear (to me) is whether Porsche will apply for waivers and move the engine to the center in the actual GTE car.

[Spyderman]

According to Brendon Hartley, the 2016 car has new livery.

[Deleted]

It better have.

As for the LMGT talk, that belongs to the Porsche vs Ferrari thread right.

[YorkshireLad]

Is it white

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Spyderman

According to Brendon Hartley, the 2016 car has new livery.

I hope so. The Black and Red cars at LM demonstrated how pretty the 919 is.

I think what annoys me about the terrible 14/15 white livery is that it might actually become iconic. It's very much of its era, and love it or loathe it, we'll always associate it with Porsche's return to the top flight and the battles with Audi and Toyota. I really wish they'd picked something better.

And talking of 911s with engines in the middle, the livery on the '98 winning car is terrible as well, but you don't hear any Porsche fans complaining about that anymore.

[chernaudi]

Porsche now planning to run only one car at the WEC Prologue.

[Deleted]

It's becoming clear.

Anyone else still feel that the 43 day testing restriction is "plenty enough"...?

And that teams prefer Prologue over 3rd pre LM round, as was argued over Monza idea scrap...

[TF110]

43 days is plenty. But seeing competitors use only one car it makes sense to follow suit. It's 'only' one day, but they could get more done in a test with less traffic like Toyota has explained. I don't think that's the best decision for cost cutting though.

[Deleted]

It's not really plenty if you use two cars though, that would be four allocated days of if you run them in both days. Add to that Test Day, another two days gone, and (voluntary) Bugatti Test, and the Bahrain Rookie Test, and huge chunk is already gone.

[carbon_titanium]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

I hope so. The Black and Red cars at LM demonstrated how pretty the 919 is.

I think what annoys me about the terrible 14/15 white livery is that it might actually become iconic. It's very much of its era, and love it or loathe it, we'll always associate it with Porsche's return to the top flight and the battles with Audi and Toyota. I really wish they'd picked something better.

And talking of 911s with engines in the middle, the livery on the '98 winning car is terrible as well, but you don't hear any Porsche fans complaining about that anymore.

I would like to see the #1 red and the #2 black like le mans for the whole season; even with the same "porsche, intelligence, bla bla bla" paintscheme.
About 2017 mid-engined 991 RSR, I'm not so surprised... RUF was able to fit a V8 inside a 997 chassis already and as corvette was able to do with the "hybrid"* tub of the C7R; surely porsche will get some waiver for the chassis structure too. Me too think that will be used the twin turbo 3.8L boxer from 991 turbo/GT2.


*C7R chassis is a sort of "frankestein", road chassis joint with a tubular structure.

[TF110]

Only Toyota has used two cars in a test so far. If it's a 3-day test with one car, that's 14 different tests not including mandatory days. That's a lot of running.