Porsche CEO, Dr Oliver Blume, has revealed that the company will spend one billion Euros* (just under $1.1 million at today’s exchange rates) putting the Mission E concept into production by the end of this decade. The all-electric car will be built at Zuffenhausen, which is receiving the lion’s share – €700 million – of total investment.
“We are not just experimenting around to see what comes out of it,” says Blume. “We’re investing heavily in our future because we are convinced of doing the right thing at the right time. The next few years will see a new paint shop and a separate assembly plant in Zuffenhausen. The existing engine plant will be expanded for the production of electric drives. In addition, we will be extending the existing body shop. All together, more than 1000 jobs will be created there.”
Low Oil Prices vs Mission E Electric Vehicles
Newspaper headlines predicting the end of electric vehicles thanks to low oil prices continue to sound ridiculous to most straight thinking people, and Blume is on the same page. “You don’t have to be a clairvoyant to predict that the oil price will go up again. The current trend is deceptive.
“We don’t want to and can’t reverse the developments [already made] – we have no choice. Our innovations are the crucial factor. They are what it all depends on. Market leadership does not come from subsidies but from superior technology. Once we have it, everything comes automatically.”
Is Porsche really targeting market leadership in electric vehicles? If yes, could it ever get there? Porsche has no plans to dilute its brand by bringing small or medium electric cars to market but, by continuing to stretch its hybrid and pure electric expertise in premium product development and fitting that technology to the ultimate cars of the future, Porsche will pick up opportunities to licence derivations of its electric powertrains elsewhere, in much the same way as the company licenced patented transmission synchros for decades. No doubt Porsche electric drivetrain technology will also inform cheaper hybrid and full-electric powertrains used by other brands within the Volkswagen parent company.
How Much is a Billion?
*UK readers informed mainly by 1960s road test articles note that one billion is now accepted to equate to one thousand million and that the ‘British Billion’ – a million million – is now classed as one trillion. Denis Healey officially adopted the thousand-million billion for UK Treasury reporting in the 1970s (apparently).
Porsche is currently hosting the press launch for its newest 911: the 991 Turbo S. The event is being held at Kyalami Circuit in Johannesburg, South Africa, but more of that later. The car will apparently outrun a 918 Spyder from 50-75 mph (count 1.8 seconds in the Turbo), but some reviews seem to suggest that the £150,000 991 Turbo S is just not special enough.
These days, we do not have to wait until the earliest print date for journalists’ first impressions of a new car: reviews are online by lunch in the era where web content is king. The verdict seems to be that the Turbo S is unbelievably fast but it’s not as special as similarly-priced alternatives. Unless you are a Porsche nut, in which case it’s the hottest Turbo yet and therefore must be owned.
The Turbo S produces 572bhp at 6,750rpm. Peak torque of 553lb/ft runs from 2250 to 4k rpm. PDK is the only transmission on offer, which all the Turbo S owners I know will be quite satisfied with. Who needs a manual option confusing future values/residuals? That’s what the 991 GT2 will be for.
How much faster a GT2 manual might be is anyone’s guess. Official 0-60 time for the Porsche 991 Turbo S PDK is 2.9 seconds, but engineers claim that they can fling it to sixty in 2.6 seconds under optimum conditions. Top speed is 205 mph: this thing is unmercifully fast.
Porsche 991 Turbo S Magazine Reviews
Greg Kable’s Porsche 991 Turbo S review on Autocar is perhaps the most enthusiastic summary available for now, and reads like Greg had a day in the car while other journos made do with just a few laps. “[The 991 Turbo S] represents a significant step in terms of dynamic prowess and ability to entertain. While a lot about the facelifted 911 Turbo S remains the same, its intrinsic character has evolved, making it more memorable to drive than ever.”
Dan Prosser is rather more restrained in his review of the Porsche 991 Turbo S for Evo Magazine. “Given that the revisions are quite subtle, the 911 Turbo S’s overall proposition remains the same – for everyday usability, and for those buyers who require two small rear seats, it’s in a class of one. The similarly priced McLaren 570S has the more engaging chassis, while the Audi R8 V10+ has a massively more exciting drivetrain.”
Reviewing the Porsche 991 Turbo S for CompleteCar.ie, Kyle Fortune gives the car four out of five overall, noting: “If the engine’s lacking in any area it’s in the aural department. That remoteness is present in the steering too, which, while undeniably accurate, lacks the weighting and feel that’s present even in the four-wheel drive 911 Carreras.”
Porsche at Kyalami Circuit
Perhaps I missed something, as I haven’t been paying that much attention, but I think this is the first time Porsche has used Kyalami in anger since Porsche’s SA representatives bought Kyalami Circuit at auction a year or so ago. The pics I’ve seen suggest the place has been well and truly spruced up. It seemed obvious to me at the time that Germany might have had a hand in the purchase, as Kyalami is a perfect spot for car launches during the cold months of a European winter. Nice to see that prediction has come true: there’s a first time for everything.
For the first time in its history, Porsche AG has delivered more than 200,000 cars in a single production year with still one full month remaining to the end of 2015.
A total of 209,894 cars were delivered to the end of November 2015: 24% up on the same period last year. Cayenne was November’s big winner: almost 40% on the same month last year with 6,500 models delivered. Cayenne has also beat Macan this year: a total of 68,000 cars delivered between January and November 2015.
China has been the biggest market so far in 2015, no doubt a surprise to those who have been talking that corner down. Chinese Porsche buyers took delivery of 54,302 cars through the first eleven months of 2015: up 34% on the same period last year.
Despite selling almost ten percent more cars than last year, the US continues to trail China’s success by some 6,500 cars: twelve percent of the Chinese total. Europe was up thirty percent for the year, with 70,500 cars sold and delivered.
I had it completely wrong yesterday: Porsche was not testing a new 991.2 RSR at the Nürburgring. Instead, it was gearing up to run the new-for-2016 Porsche 991 GT3R in a test under racing conditions at the Nürburgring in the Rowe DMV 250-Meilen-Rennen, with works drivers, Nick Tandy and Fred Makowiecki.
At the ninth round of this year’s VLN Nürburgring Long Distance Championship, the pair ran amongst the race leaders at a cold and foggy Nordschleife, eventually finishing the four-hour race in third place overall. The winner was the polesitter Black Falcon Mercedes SLS, which qualified P1 on an 8:01.443 and turned a fastest race lap of 8:02.786. In comparison, the fastest lap set by the new Porsche 911 991 GT3R was 8:10.828. It finished on the lead lap, 4 minutes behind the Mercedes.
Porsche 991 GT3R test ends with Nürburgring Podium
“We didn’t come here specifically to race, but I’m happy to be on the podium,” said Tandy. “The car was fun to drive.” “Balance was good and it was fun to drive at the Nürburgring,” echoed Fred. “A couple of areas need optimising, but that’s normal in testing and development.”
The new GT3R features an improved aerodynamic package compared to its predecessor, as well as improved driveability and further optimised safety. The engine used in the Nürburgring tests was the proven (current) power plant, but an all-new direct fuel injection engine generation is currently undergoing test bench runs in Weissach and further testing in the USA.
“The first test outing of our new 911 GT3 R was promising,” says Head of Porsche Motorsport Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser. “Pure performance was not the only priority today. We are also looking at being able to offer our customers a reliable car that runs well in all conditions. The Nürburgring Nordschleife is excellently suited to put the chassis, body and systems under a stress test. And this works best under race conditions.”
Porsche Motorsport has launched the all-new Porsche 911 GT3 R at the Nürburgring 24-Hour. The new 991 GT3 R joins the current factory race car lineup of 919 LMP1 Hybrid and 991 RSR, and the customer 991 Cup, which is built on the Stuttgart production line.
Based on the 991 GT3 RS, the 991 GT3 R comes with a four-litre flat-six making 500bhp and costs an impressive €429,000 plus VAT: almost $500,000 plus applicable taxes, according to fxtop.com. In comparison, the 991 Cup (GT3 based) with 460bhp from its 3.8-litre engine costs just €181,000* plus tax. So what do you get for your half-million dollars?
“In developing the latest 911 race car, special attention was paid to lightweight design, better aerodynamic efficiency, reducing consumption, improved handling, further optimised safety as well as lowering service and spare parts costs,” says the Porsche press release.
That lightweight design starts with aluminium, carbon fibre and polycarbonate: all the glazing – including the windscreen – is now polycarbonate (EB Motorsport sells a similar polycarbonate windscreen for early Porsche 911s if you’re in the market). The roof, front panels, doors, rear quarters and tail section are all carbon fibre.
Lowering body and suspension weight across the 991’s longer wheelbase (83mm longer than a 997) means an ‘optimised’ centre of gravity has been achieved. I presume that optimised means lower and further forward than the 997: no doubt one of my race engineer friends will fill me in on this over a beer some night.
One big change on the new GT3 R is a move to a centre front radiator. Anyone who has watched Supercup racing at Monaco knows that even a small hit to one front corner can wipe out a radiator and then a race motor too, as the damaged car limps back to the pits with soaring engine temps.
Going to a centre rad (as seen on older Porsche 911 race cars with centrally-mounted oil coolers) helps airflow and aerodynamics too, allowing more control of the hot air beneath the front wings and around the front axle. The 991 GT3 R brings in the same front wing vents from the 991 GT3 RS to reduce front end lift, but then the 997 GT3 R also had front wing vents: not a great deal is different.
Brakes at 6-piston 380mm front/4-piston 372mm rear are the same as GT3 Cup, and the wheels are also the same 310mm width at the rear. Paddle shift of the six-speed sequential transmission, direct injection, variable valve timing, 120-litre fuel cell: it’s all as one would expect from a top-flight Porsche racing car costing £370,000 including VAT.
Deliveries start in December this year, so we won’t see the Porsche 991 GT3 R on race tracks before 2016. How competitive will it be? That depends on who decides to run it, and what the competition does in the meantime. See below for some Porsche video of the new 911 GT3 R in action.
Interesting story on Gizmag this morning about how Porsche has patented a new type of variable compression ration engine technology. Partnering Porsche in this venture is Hilite International, already a long-standing client at Porsche Consulting.
Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) is a prime candidate for the next big step in internal combustion engine efficiency. It is particularly suitable for turbocharged engines, and we know that all 911s will adopt turbocharged engines over the next few years, alongside the many turbocharged model variants in the Macan, Cayenne and Panamera ranges already produced by Porsche.
Compression ratio is critical to performance, and is of particular importance on turbocharged engines. Turbos work by compressing the intake charge of air and fuel before ramming it into the combustion chamber under pressure. Because a turbocharger is powered by exhaust gas, and therefore is not always running at peak boost, the amount of fuel/air mix entering the cylinder varies from low volume when the turbo is not spinning to maximum volume when the turbo is running at peak revs. Turbocharged engines must therefore run lower compression ratios, to allow that higher volume at peak boost. This costs them power.
Why use Variable Compression Ratio technology?
One way to increase the efficiency of a turbocharged engine would be to constantly adjust the compression ratio, giving higher compression off-boost, and reducing the compression as boost pressure rises, to prevent detonation. The Porsche system (top) is clever, planting the piston on an eccentric mount that is automatically adjusted by control rods, which swivel the piston up or down on the crankshaft connecting rod depending on oil pressure, thus controlling the compression ratio.
Compare this solution to the nicely engineered but complex solution developed by MCE over the last decade (above photo shared under ‘fair use’), and it is perhaps easy to imagine how this new patent might better suit volume manufacturing, delivering less risk to reliability. It is also highly licensable technology: something which Porsche has done very well from over its history. So, even if the technology never makes it into a Porsche, it could be shared commercially with a wide range of other end users.
Bravo Porsche engineering! We look forward to seeing a fully developed version of this system come to production, and to experiencing the benefits on the road.
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