Guest89

GTD 911 will run the 9A1 in IMSA - 99.9% certain
GTLM - I'm not certain 9A1 vs Mezger

Just in time

Agree, but I believe to have read somewhere that the 9a1 was not ready at the time and that is why they stuffed the Mezger in the R for that race. For all I can read they are really commited to developing the 9a1. Given that new rules convert GTLM into turbo cars I guess Porsche will not give up on the 9a1 given the cost already sunk into its development. All bets may be off if it proves to be a dud.

Mvez

They just won virtually every Pro level driver, team, and manufacturer world titles on both sides of the pond, in WEC and IMSA. The rear platform works just fine. The 911 isn't a stop-gap for anything.

The official sporting regs allow manufacturers to move their engines inward. EVERY car on the grid, that isn't mid-engine, such as the Z4 GTLM, Corvette, Aston Martin, and 911 RSR all move their engines inward for better balance. etc. etc. Every front drive car uses a "FM", or "front-mid" placement....Porsche is just doing what the front drive cars do too....move the engine inward for better balance, using a "mid-rear" placement.

This isn't some admission of anything other than they know how important the 911 is to the brand, and why they continue to champion it. If they want to move the engine a little more forward, I'm fine with it, everybody else certainly is adding more balance to their car. They already did it with the current RSR, via a larger wheelbase.

There is a reason Porsche is sticking with natural aspiration for their customer-based cars, such as the 991 GT3-R with the 9A1....because driving a turbo-rear engine car is not easy. They need to keep customer-based cars competitive, and easy to drive for gentleman drivers who buy and race them. Throttle response is critical to rear engine cars. I think you can expect to see NA engines in customer cars for as long as they possibly can. In a one-make series like GT3 cup, it doesn't matter what engine they use, because the car doesn't race other makes. Same with GT4 clubsport. Plus, the fact is, NA engines are typically more reliable and less expensive to maintain in motorsport. Whether it's the 9A1, or a successor, they already shipped GT3-R's with the 9A1....they are committed to that platform for some time. My ears thank this decision....you heard some of those other GT3 turbo-terds lately?

Perhaps turbo will be an eventual must for the RSR in GTLM...which is a bummer, so if 2017 RSR is a turbo engine, I can't help but think that another reason of moving the engine inward is also to help with driving dynamics. Even for pro drivers, I'm sure a rear engine, turbo car will be more difficult to peddle than an NA one.....McLaren 650 GT3 is already notorious for being fast, but also very difficult to drive, and that's with the mythical unicorn perfect "mid-engine" location....

Zeus

If there will ever be a 960, street car & race car, I hope that it will have a very special normally aspirated flat 8 or flat 12 with somewhere in the 750-900hp range. Something that would differentiate it from the McLarens & Ferraris at least.

There, I said it. Hope Porsche is listening...