Automotive

Porsche’s 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0

Porsche’s 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
The steering wheel on the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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The steering wheel on the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
The two electric motors on the front axle contribute nearly 200 bhp
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The two electric motors on the front axle contribute nearly 200 bhp
The flywheel
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The flywheel
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
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Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
The Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid took the lead just as the sun was going down
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The Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid took the lead just as the sun was going down
The Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid V2.0
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The Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid V2.0
Too much time in the pits due to
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Too much time in the pits due to
View gallery - 27 images

Last year in the Nürburgring 24 Hour race, Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid held the lead for more than eight hours before problems unrelated to the hybrid system saw it relegated through the field. The organizer of the event thought the performance potential of the vehicle was so auspicious that for this year it crippled the rear-mounted petrol engine's performance to just 448 bhp. So Porsche built a completely new vehicle to the same design around the new regulations, lowered the weight, upped the electrical drive to the front wheels to 200 bhp and set out to run the same lap times. Not only did it achieve the same lap times, it delivered even better fuel consumption, and four hours after the start of this year's race, it hit the lead once more ...

It's not surprising that the car cruised into the lead at this year's race around the "green hell", given the additional front wheel torque to haul the car out of corners and a quartet of Porsche works drivers - Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria), Marco Holzer (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) - but once again fate played a role and although the hybrid system functioned perfectly, unrelated problems crippled the challenge.

Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0

A broken flange in the differential sent it into the pits for repairs, which cost it an hour and around seven laps. Seven hours later, after the car was scything its way through the field once more, exactly the same problem struck again, necessitating a second unplanned pit stop. Though the time taken for repairs was only 40 minutes second time around, and only another five laps to make up, trying to claw back a total of 12 laps around the most demanding circuit in the world is no easy task.

Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0

The 911 GT3 R Hybrid rejoined the race in 105th place, and although lapping as fast and often faster than the front runners, it only managed to pull itself back to 35th place before yet another problem.

Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0

One of the many problems faced by faster cars in a 24 hour race is that of passing much slower cars frequently. On Sunday morning Patrick Long was lapping a slower car when he was nudged at high speed in the Flugplatz passage, spinning the car and necessitating another pit stop. After a quick check, where no damage was found, the car finished the race without further drama, finishing in 29th place outright.

The Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid took the lead just as the sun was going down
The Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid took the lead just as the sun was going down

Designed and built by Porsche R&D, the general layout of the 2011 911 GT3 R Hybrid remains quite similar to that of the 2010 model - a portal axle with two electric motors drives the front wheels while a detuned, 448 bhp four-liter flat-six drives the rear wheels.

One of the priorities for the development of the second generation 911 GT3 R Hybrid was the improvement of efficiency of the hybrid components, which resulted in a 20 percent reduction in overall weight of the hybrid system.

Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0

The output of both electric motors was increased from 60 to 75 kilowatts each, offering around 200 additional horsepower driving the front wheels. The power can be added on the exit to corners via the throttle or manually accessed by the driver for overtaking.

The two electric motors on the front axle contribute nearly 200 bhp
The two electric motors on the front axle contribute nearly 200 bhp

Unlike most other hybrids, which store their regenerative brake sourced hybrid energy in electrical form in a battery or super-capacitor, this task in the Porsche is achieved by an electric flywheel accumulator. The flywheel rotor spins up to 40,000 rpm and stores energy mechanically as kinetic energy.

The flywheel
The flywheel

The flywheel generator is charged-up whenever the driver applies the brakes, with the two electric motors reversing their function on the front axle and acting themselves as generators. Energy which is converted into heat (and hence wasted) in cars using traditional disc or drum brakes, is efficiently converted into mechanical energy.

The hybrid drive is not necessarily only used for extra power - it can also increase the efficiency of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid by saving fuel and making pit stops less frequent.

At first glance, the new GT3 R Hybrid is clearly distinguishable from the 2010 model. Thanks to the optimization of the hybrid system's high voltage components, the large louvers in front of the rear wheelarches were no longer necessary.

Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0

This reduces aerodynamic drag and also lowers fuel consumption. All in all, the weight of the vehicle decreased from 1,350 to 1,300 kilograms.

The cockpit of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid has also been completely revised. Most of the displays and controls have moved to the steering wheel. Drivers can operate the rest of the functions via backlit buttons now situated on the center console. Priority was placed on the ergonomics and the clear layout for drivers; always a priority but particularly significant when racing in darkness.

The steering wheel on the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0
The steering wheel on the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0

View gallery - 27 images
3 comments
3 comments
Wallis
Is this a patent violation? This is old U.S. technology and its being used in a Porsche. American automakers in the 1970\'s designed similar devices that stored kinetic energy from cars\' breaking systems. The energy was then used by engaging the flywheel to the drive train. Toyota prius also uses old 1970\'s American designs. I guess American companies never thought their ideas would be later be copied by japan and then patented.
Raymond Johnson
Simply put. No.
Gary Richardson
It is not a violation of a old patent because there is a significant difference in performance, design and other attributes. For starters, the magnets nowadays are on a fast clip for evolving to gain higher yields for the sake of energy efficiency. Secondly, an increase in magnetic yield from new magnet chemistries cause demand for better structural designs to optimize quality, costs or speed considerations. The design offered in the 1970\'s were typically heavier and engineers considered that a good thing for flywheels the new designs aim to make them as light as possible. Reason being is the weight of those older designs limiteded the potential for energy capture and response sensitivity since you had to overcome the weight of the flywhell to even capture anything. This limitation restricted efficiency. Besides, a patent is only good for about 10 years unless you refile with improvements made to the design.