ilko

Does anybody know why is Porsche sticking to the old "GT1" motor for their race cars? The 2013 Cup cars have the GT1 and so do the RSRs that won at Le Mans last month. And apparently the 2014 Cups won't be any different.

In the past showroom turbo and GT cars used the same engine as the race cars (I know, not *quite* the same, but close enough). So why is Porsche not using the 9A1 motor in race cars?

jumper5836

I figure they were not ready. The GT3 isn't even out yet.

frayed

ilko

I'm not that old but back in the day it used to be the other way around. Test it at the track then put it in street cars.

jumper5836

Well I think it started out as a street car, and then people raced them. Once people figured out the blurry lines of motor sport and homologation was put in place. They started doing what you suggest to meet regulations. Though I am no expert.

porsche518

My personal theory is that they are working on a flat 8 which the race cars get first then the street cars will transition too.

Nan P

If you read last months Porsche Panorama magazine "European Windows" article, it talks briefly about this.
Basically the new 991 really needs DFI & the more economical 9A1 engine. The GT3 was not available as a homologation platform since it isn't out yet. This is why the the new RSR is not called GT3 RSR.

My prediction is that the 9A1 GT3 engine will be raced in motorsports at some time - probably next year. I have a 997.1GT3RS & love the Mezger/GT1 engine, however the competition is moving on & Porsche has to change to newer technologies.

Mike in CA

Nan P is exactly right. As has been mentioned before, the current RSR is homologated on the Carrera 4 body resulting in the naming convention Nan refers to. For those interested this was in the June 2013 Pano, page 20.

ilko

Thanks! I thought I did, but I guess I need to read Pano more closely!

kosmo

the f 8 from the Rs Spyder would be a hoot!

tcsracing1

Im not sure when the 991 Cup cars will switch over to DFI. Will be interesting to see the pros and cons. Either way i plan to end up in one

The Mezger is already a classic however and i will be keeping my 997.1RS forever. 20 years from now it will be a blast to have a 6 speed manual porsche screamer in the garage for weekend blasts.

10 GT3

I keep stating this over and over again. With the Mezger, the street variant and race variant with both released within a year of each other. The 9A1 was released in street form in 2008, almost 5 years ago. Porsche has not put the 9A1 in the race cars as they don't have the confidence in using it as a race platform. Last year, when the 991 came out, Porsche bought 2 more years worth of Mezger blocks to mitigate risk with the 9A1 engines. They still have another year of blocks they can build engines from if they want to delay the decision another year.

Further, with the M96 the production engine span was 10 years. The 9A1 is already halfway through its lifespan yet hasn't been released in the race cars. Given that Porsche is most likely already starting to design the engine replacement for the 9A1 series, it may simply may not make sense to try to make a 9A1 race worthy. BTW, the street PDK "Double Clutch Automatic" gearbox has also never made it into the race cars. The race cars still use a true sequential manual 6-sp showing Porsche also does not have confidence that the street PDK gearbox is up to full track duty.

Other notes:

• Back in 2010, Porsche commented about the Mezger and DFI. They said since it already had a high compression and such a good head design, that adding DFI would of added little to no performance improvement. Hence why they didn't spend the dollars to develop new DFI heads.

• They also commented at the same time that the street PDK would never matte to a Mezger engine. They said the cost of the changing the transaxle to fit the bell housing shape of a Mezger would have cost millions and was not worth it for the small number of Mezger engines the factory was releasing.

Mike in CA

New DFI heads have been developed for the totally redesigned 9A1 motorsport engine in the 991 GT3.

A prediction: all of this speculation will be become irrelevant within a year of the start of GT3 production when Porsche begins to race the new DFI motor.

911rox

Fact: We can predict till the cows come home but the fact is that Porsche need to deliver what they have suggested.... Race car platforms with the new technology..

Macca

They will make an announcement on this sooner than you think. I believe this will be covered in the 991 GT3RS press kit....