by John Glynn | Dec 3, 2014 | New Models, Porsche News
I passed my first Porsche Macan on the road last Monday. Charging around the M42 motorway, a black 14-plate Macan Turbo in spotless condition was besmirched by the dirtiest car on the road: my hard-used 2004 Cayenne S.
I didn’t take much notice until I was pretty close, but Macan shape and style is quite handsome. It looked big enough to be useful as a people mover, but I wonder what condition the Macan will be in five or six years, when cash buyers like me start considering them.
Macan is made in Leipzig, alongside Cayenne and the Panamera. The production process is well worked out, as it should be thanks to Christoph Beerhalter. A name not heard much in public, Beerhalter is one of those engineers who goes methodically about his business, leaving a quiet revolution in his wake.
Porsche and Toyota Production Methods
When Porsche was hampered by high production costs due to inefficiency in the early 1990’s, Beerhalter was at the front line of sorting it out. Taking inspiration from all sorts of industrial production including the much-discussed Toyota school of kaizen, Beerhalter used what he’d learned from efficient organisations and applied it to Porsche production at the new Leipzig factory.
Twenty years later, Beerhalter’s name is on a number of Porsche production patents, and the Macan is built on perhaps the most efficient production line in the world. Everything from where the trains carrying Macans for export should enter the site to where the production line screws should be kept has been optimised. Control of production costs (and charging a whacking great price for new models) means that Porsche margins sit around 18% – almost twice that of some competitors and up to six times what the parent brand claims for Polo and Golf.
Porsche Macan Tested: 190 Prototypes
It’s still early days in the Porsche Macan’s life, but the margins don’t seem to have come at reduced cost of development. Knowing full well that Macan would have to hit the ground running, the company invested heavily in prototype testing, building a staggering 190 prototypes, according to a Christophorus interview with Uwe Schneider, Porsche’s head of overall vehicle development.
“Only in a real prototype do we see how the vehicle reacts under real-life conditions,” said Schneider. “For every Porsche, those real conditions include use at the limits of performance. No simulation, no matter how good, can determine the wear on the vehicle after 150,000 kilometers on real roads and testing grounds.”
Porsche Macan Recall
The first Porsche Macan recall has already been issued for problems with brake servo fitment. As a brand new model, no doubt there’ll be more, but the real test is long term. I’m not the only used Porsche cash buyer waiting to see how quickly used prices drop to affordable levels, and how real-life reliability stands up over time.
by John Glynn | Nov 30, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
Congratulations to Carlos Sainz Junior for securing a Formula 1 drive next year with Scuderia Toro Rosso. The well-deserved drive comes following a championship-winning season in World Series by Renault, and a few days sliding the Tuthill Porsche Below Zero Ice Driving cars, which Junior’s dad and two-time World Rally Champion, Carlos Senior, decided would boost his son’s speed in tricky conditions.
“Carlos Jr. is fully focused on his racing career, so of course we are here mostly for fun,” said Carlos Sr. (below) at the Below Zero Ice Driving campus, “but the experience should still help him understand the feel of a car a bit when grip is reduced, such as when it is raining.”
Carlos Sainz Jr Porsche Ice Driving
Arriving straight from Rally Sweden, the Sainz family enjoyed Tuthill’s Below Zero Ice Driving on the frozen lakes around Åre, one of Scandinavia’s premier winter sports resorts. Carlos and his brother Antonio are popular faces in the Tuthill Porsche camp. Antonio runs rally Porsches in Spain which Carlos employs to great effect, and the cars feature many Tuthill Porsche rally parts.
While discussing the impending engine rebuild on my 1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 with Tuthill’s engine guru last Friday, another engine arrived from Spain with Antonio’s name on it. A great relationship exists between the rally families, and Tuthills are also gearing up for some WRC R-GT filming with Carlos Junior’s Red Bull sponsors this winter. Hopefully we’ll see some of that before Rallye Monte Carlo, where the 997 R-GT will be back to rallying action.
Following the warmer temperatures Sweden has experienced in the last few winters, Below Zero has a shortened season on the frozen lakes next year. The team has set just six weeks aside for ice driving in 2015, from the 14th of January to the start of March.
Almost 150 car days have already sold out, so the team is looking forward to its most successful season yet. Those interested in joining an increasingly prestigious list of participants (including Mr Adrian Newey!) should email Belo Zero. Tell them we sent you, of course.
by John Glynn | Nov 30, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
The Porsche 911 RSR used an external gearbox oil cooler on its modified 915 transmission for better heat dissipation and increased reliability. The external housing for the additional oil pump gears required by an external cooler has been unavailable for decades, but EB Motorsport has now recreated the RSR oil pump housing using the latest production technology.
The EB oil pump housing is recreated in cast aluminium, using an original RSR assembly including the transmission end case to ensure an accurate fit in reproduction. A series of complex engineering procedures is required to achieve the high quality associated with all EB parts.
EB Motorsport’s reproduction 915 transmission oil pump housing is supplied assembled with bushes for pump gears. EB’s part also includes the correct metric/fine adaptors and crush washers. The price is £296 plus carriage and VAT.
As an additional service, EB can supply the complete system including transmission spray bars, pick-up drive gears and pressure relief valve. Prices for additional services are available on application via the website at www.eb-motorsport.com.
by John Glynn | Nov 28, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods, Porsche People
Our friend Thorsten in Germany has shared some cool throwback pics of his early 911 in driver training sessions with a previous owner and a certain Mr Bell. It’s sweet enough to find pics of your car on track in a previous life, but how much more delightful to discover Derek Reginald Bell MBE sitting behind the wheel.
One picture shows the pitlane lineup, where I spied another mate: Bata Mataja, with wife Rosa and his super-cool Porsche 356 race car, Blue Baby. Bata has shared umpteen tales from the Blue Baby archives with Ferdinand, so it was great to send him a previously unseen photo of the car.
“Running Blue Baby at Laguna would have been very early on in my racing days. I’ll have to think about what club it was with: it may have been a Porsche Club event, but not too sure. Great picture: I think I beat all these guys! 😀 ”
I am also pretty sure these are Porsche Club driving days. Asking Thorsten led to discussions on his car and where it came from – it is a very cool story.
“Well, I was fortunate to find the car I was dreaming to find at Dunkel Brothers in 2003. It looked right and felt even better. The seller was a very nice guy that knew his stuff: he had taken good care of it and it was streets ahead of the other cars I had looked at within my budget.
“A good honest car, we instantly clicked and I have loved my time with it to date. It is tied to many priceless memories: I drove it out in LA for twelve months on Mulholland, at the German Autofest, Palm Springs, getting hooked up with the RGruppe right away.
“Then it came home to Germany and has since done local rallies, trips to Gmünd, drives through France, Belgium, The Netherlands and to Classics at the Castle in England. It’s even been on the proving grounds in Weissach.”
It certainly proves itself in these pics. Thorsten thinks some of the DB shots were taken at Sears Point, but I know this DB pic was taken a few weeks ago at Collier Dade Airfield in Florida, where our Jamie recently worked with Derek again, this time on an official Bentley shoot. A well-matched pair of Porsche fans: the pic still makes me laugh. Perfect!
by John Glynn | Nov 27, 2014 | Porsche People, Race and Rally
One of the Porsche F1 driver rumours previously reported on Ferdinand was confirmed this morning, when Porsche announced that Nico Hülkenberg would drive for its LMP1 squad at Le Mans 2015. While there is no further news on Jenson Button, it proves that the third LMP1 car is not set aside for works GT drivers.
“The Hulk” currently drives for Force India on Formula 1 (based just down the road from us in Silverstone) and enjoyed a solid start to the 2014 F1 season. Recently confirmed with Force India for 2015, the Porsche drive will give him something else to do next summer.
“Porsche and Le Mans: this combination probably attracts every race driver,” said Nico. “I’ve been a Porsche fan for a long time and have been watching their return to the LMP1 class closely. The desire grew to drive that car at Le Mans. I am very pleased the 2015 Formula One calendar allows for it and I’m grateful for Sahara Force India’s generosity in letting me go for it. Now it’s up to me to work hard to satisfy both commitments.”
Nico Hülkenberg Porsche Drive Le Mans 2015
When Nico takes the start of the 2015 Le Mans on June 13, he will be the first active F1 driver to race at Le Mans since 2009. While The Hulk is no stranger to Porsche (he previously tested the 997 Hybrid at the Nürburgring), Porsche is bedding him into racing the 919 at the 6 Hours of Spa on May 2.
Quotes from the Porsche race personnel read like every other press release – “this proves our 919 Hybrid is a worthy race seat etc” – but there is no doubt that Porsche has pulled in another exceptionally quick race driver who has dominated most of the championships he has raced in. After some really impressive F1 race drives in less than stellar machinery, Hülkenberg missed out on a works Ferrari seat by the barest of margins and has always qualified well: his pace should put down a challenging benchmark.
Also important is Hülkenberg’s long-term Dekra sponsorship and experience with F1’s new drivetrain technology. Very few people have raced the latest generation of F1 cars and ,while there is little outward similarity between the two series, driving quickly with hybrid power demands a specific approach. Nico’s intelligence and understanding of high-level hybrid racing could give his car a distinct advantage: who knows until we go racing.
While this deal is just for a driver, it may also be that Porsche could somehow explore connections to Force India’s technical know-how and commercial activities. Vijay Mallya knows how to make a buck or two and India has a proper F1 circuit doing nothing. Perhaps there’s an opportunity to bring WEC to that part of the world. I’m just throwing it out there.
