MileHigh911

+1

Engines fail when pushed to the limits. As for the love of the Mezger. That will always be there. BUT, technology moves on, turn the page

neanicu

Because of the misleading title of this thread and OP's first post :


Without any further info he has personally concluded it was indeed the failure of a Mezger engine component that has caused the fires.

I remember when the first fire came to surface of the 9A1 based GT3 engine. I personally did not jump to condemn the engine for the fire. Not to mention there were others trying to steer the opinions away from the problem,by claiming they know from their " sources " it was actually an oil line that goes to the oil cooler which had failed. Guess where they got that " info " from?!
So my " sources " are telling me the Mezger fires in the 24Hrs race were caused by the gearbox oil leaking. This is the Internet,we all have " sources ".... Prove me wrong!

doubleurx

From Flat sixes:
"Only one of the of the Porsches managed a podicum, but it was an ignominious fate for the remaining P-cars. The #88 car of Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing (Ried, Bachler, Al Qubaisi) was the second Porsche to go up in smoke with an engine fire, this time after 44 laps. Team AAI of Taiwan brought an old 997 GT3 RSR as well as a new 991 generation 911 RSR to compete. Both cars were well off the pace, and finished down the order (8th and 6th in class, respectively)."

neanicu

The fact that the flames were coming out of the engine area does not conclude the fire was originated from the failure of an engine component. Could engine internal failure be the cause in at least one of the 3 cars? Sure! Has the Mezger engine failed before? Sure! Am I a Mezger fanboy? No! Will Porsche ever disclose what happened? Probably not. Will we find out? Likely yes! But until then this thread makes for entertainment only.

Z356

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So trying to add to the entertainment value of this discussion, let me repeat what I posted on the other 'Porsche Wins LeMans' thread because we have room here for a larger discussion than just what caused the engine fires...

I am not expert. Just an observer of a trend...and this one is not a particular favorable one for Porsche Motorsport!

Here is the list of entrants in the GTE Pro and GTE AM on the year I attended Le Mans in 2011. Look at the number of Porsche RSR's competing at Le Mans as recently as 2011:




Eight private teams (paying customers) competing with Porsche RSR's!



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Here is the list of entrants in the similar lower classes at Le Mans in 2015:



Six RSR in the entire field. Two are factory owned (Porsche Team Manthey) holding up the corporate banner in the battle field! Only two paying customers - Dempsey/Proton and IAA - with two RSRs apiece. And it would not surprise me to learn that at least Dempsey was somewhat subsidized by Porsche...and with some borrowed Porsche factory driving talent too!

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So as Jim McKay used to say:

The thrill of victory....

2nd Place in GTE AM


And the agony of defeat!

5th Place GTE - PRO...



And these two back of their respective field...





And then the DNF's...



#92 - Porsche Manthey - "Get out of the car...out of the car!"




#88 - Dempsey/Proton Racing








http://video.eurosport.com/wec/le-ma...77/video.shtml

or Google:'Second Porsche Catches Fire at Le Mans 24hr'

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Those are the stats. You tell me if you think Porsche is making progress or gaining customers to their RSR racing motorsports program!

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The answer to this dilemma is to introduce the FeFi - the mid-engined 960 / 988 model! And I am a firm believer that Porsche will introduce such a model in the NOT too distant future...regardless reports of its demise due to 'Sudden Infant Death Syndrome' (SIDS) at some VW Group crib at a corporate board meeting in Wolfsburg!



https://rennlist.com/forums/porsche-...m-porsche.html

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Which brings us to Nizer's post:





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With 918 Spyder production about to be completed soon at Zuffenhausen & those vehicles sold & paid for, PAG might not have to worry about finally openly talking about their next super car - a mini version of the 918 - but without the heavy hybrid batteries and at a price point under US$300,000! Yes, the FeFi is about to be unleashed on all of us...and for Porsche Motorsports, it doesn't come a moment too soon!





Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel

PS And no, this 'Phoenix' will not look anything like this exciting old-timer Pontiac!


.

NateOZ

FeFi will be a hybrid imo, falls in line with current Corporate messaging to investors and 919/918 investment.

MaxLTV

Thanks, Eduardo - that was informative.

I, for one, welcome our mid-engined, potentially hybridized, overlords :-). Especially if it comes with weight reduction due to use of carbon fiber - Porsche is kicking butt without exotic materials, so I can only imagine how good this car can be with more optimized layout and new-age structural design.

Z356

Yes, I am sure that one of the street versions will sport a hybrid...the 'Green Party' and the tree-huggers will have to be appeased. But the 'Porsche Motorsports' competition / racing model will conform with whatever the regulations established by the ACO-FIA governing GTE.

http://www.fiawec.com/en/news/the-ac...ons-_3220.html

And there Porsche will utilize anything they have to make their new model competitive without putting them at a disadvantage relative to their competition. All the ACO-FIA rules are not set yet...we will see what shape the power train will take. It will be most likely be a turbo(s)...

Yes, I agree. That is why every time I see a 918 Spyder owner, I go up & kiss him or her. And I then profusely thank them for buying this expensive car and paying for the development work that all of us will benefit (at a discount) on the new FeFi model! That is why you don't hear me complain about all the priority buying privileges of the '918 Spyder Circle' VIP program!



Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel

Zulu Alpha

Makes sense what you are saying Eduardo, could be that Porsche Motorsport has the new 991 GT3 R for GT3 sort of competition in the future such as Blaincpan, and World Challenge etc... Drop the RSR and go with a 960/988 FeFi Motorsport program got GTE (GT2) competition. However, it might be a bit tough to conclude that as we didnt see any development of FeFi so far to come in such a short time.

As posted in another thread regarding 2016 and on, it was "leaked" from that German news article that the RSR will go turbo, and the GT3 R will be DFI. Now we know for certain the GT3 R is DFI, lets see what happens with the RSR.

Should they drop the RSR in favor of a FeFi, or slap a turbo on it? lets see...

NateOZ

I think the next RSR will be a 4.0L Turbo, fits in well with the 911 FI direction PAG is heading with the 911 and the GT2 RS that is supposed to come in 2018. It's also less development work that a new platform right now and they need to do something with the RSR quickly.

Mr. Adair

Here is a nice little article from team AAI on Daily Sports Car. One of the 997's that caught fire at LeMans (not during the race) Nice pic of a crate Mezger motor as well. Did not not know you could top up oil quantity's from a reserve oil tank during operation. Pretty cool but it seems as though that was the source of the fire as well...

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2015/0...literally.html