Porsche GT road cars: the future... (Drivers Republic)
03-19-2009, 01:04 PM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
Porsche GT road cars: the future... (Drivers Republic)
At the Geneva motor show, Chris Harris (Drivers Republic) spoke to Andreas Preuninger (Manager, High Performance Cars, Porsche) and board member Wolfgang Durheimer (Executive Vice President, R&D, Porsche) about the Porsche GT road cars programme.
As an appetiser, DR has feedback from Andreas Preuninger (AP) and Wolfgang Durheimer (WD) on the future strategy for Porsche’s GT road cars...
Q) How do you plot strategy for GT vehicles in these troubled times?
WD: It’s almost a little bit easier than you think because the GT corner is a very solid market that is precisely defined: we know what the customers want, we know their financial situation and we know how they think. It’s about high performance, true quality and the relationship between the car and the owner. We should not be socially unacceptable, so even though the GT3 is more powerful and is faster on a circuit, it’s also more efficient and uses less fuel. To be very honest it was more difficult to decide to put the diesel in the Cayenne than it is to decide the long term view of the GT3.
AP: Our clients are looking for an emotional driving experience, and the GT3 delivers this, but yesterday I came here from Germany - 500km and the overall mpg was 10l/100km (28mpg). With the GT3 we’re making a clear efficiency statement.
Q) Do you see a time when legislation will just kill this type of car?
WD: No I’m sure that legislation won’t kill sports cars because it won’t kill the need for people to see who can run the fastest, jump the furthest and set the fastest lap time. That’s human nature. If legislation gets tougher on the public road we will actually need more racing circuits for people to go and drive the way they want to.
AP: The number of track days in Germany has nearly tripled recently, it’s now unacceptable to drive so fast on the road, so tracks are blooming and you need a proper tool to do these track days (by which he means a GT3).
WD: Maybe we don’t need cars that go beyond 300km/h? I have just conducted some research from all of our Carrera Cup and Supercup racing around the world: the racing department has just given me all of the top speeds achieved. If the Autobahns have speed limits, then perhaps we might set maximum speed about 30km/h above what we can achieve on any race track, because then this is what is possible - (given that the GT2 hit 180mph at the ‘Ring, that makes its vmax about right then. CH). If not you rent an airport on a Saturday night for a special run! It is my true belief that people want to go fast; that people want to find out who is the best and this segment will remain the same, maybe even grow. If we look at the market for race cars last year we had an all time high with 330 pure race cars sold worldwide. If you look at the 911 GT3 Cup package for €130,000 you have a full racing car ready to go: who else delivers such a car? The demand shows that there must be something going on in the market. People want these cars.
Further DR questions...
Q) How does the ‘GT vehicle’ programme apply to the Cayman?
Q) How do you meet your future emissions targets?
Q) Do you think you understand the 911 better than any other car company understand its core products?
DR full article link p1
DR full article link p2
DR full article link p3
...now for the main course!
An excellent 21 minute audio interview with Andreas Preuninger and Chris Harris discussing the development of the new 911 GT3...
DR audio interview link
DR audio download link
DR dialogue comments
Many thanks to Andreas Preuninger at Porsche and Chris Harris at DR!
As an appetiser, DR has feedback from Andreas Preuninger (AP) and Wolfgang Durheimer (WD) on the future strategy for Porsche’s GT road cars...
Q) How do you plot strategy for GT vehicles in these troubled times?
WD: It’s almost a little bit easier than you think because the GT corner is a very solid market that is precisely defined: we know what the customers want, we know their financial situation and we know how they think. It’s about high performance, true quality and the relationship between the car and the owner. We should not be socially unacceptable, so even though the GT3 is more powerful and is faster on a circuit, it’s also more efficient and uses less fuel. To be very honest it was more difficult to decide to put the diesel in the Cayenne than it is to decide the long term view of the GT3.
AP: Our clients are looking for an emotional driving experience, and the GT3 delivers this, but yesterday I came here from Germany - 500km and the overall mpg was 10l/100km (28mpg). With the GT3 we’re making a clear efficiency statement.
Q) Do you see a time when legislation will just kill this type of car?
WD: No I’m sure that legislation won’t kill sports cars because it won’t kill the need for people to see who can run the fastest, jump the furthest and set the fastest lap time. That’s human nature. If legislation gets tougher on the public road we will actually need more racing circuits for people to go and drive the way they want to.
AP: The number of track days in Germany has nearly tripled recently, it’s now unacceptable to drive so fast on the road, so tracks are blooming and you need a proper tool to do these track days (by which he means a GT3).
WD: Maybe we don’t need cars that go beyond 300km/h? I have just conducted some research from all of our Carrera Cup and Supercup racing around the world: the racing department has just given me all of the top speeds achieved. If the Autobahns have speed limits, then perhaps we might set maximum speed about 30km/h above what we can achieve on any race track, because then this is what is possible - (given that the GT2 hit 180mph at the ‘Ring, that makes its vmax about right then. CH). If not you rent an airport on a Saturday night for a special run! It is my true belief that people want to go fast; that people want to find out who is the best and this segment will remain the same, maybe even grow. If we look at the market for race cars last year we had an all time high with 330 pure race cars sold worldwide. If you look at the 911 GT3 Cup package for €130,000 you have a full racing car ready to go: who else delivers such a car? The demand shows that there must be something going on in the market. People want these cars.
Further DR questions...
Q) How does the ‘GT vehicle’ programme apply to the Cayman?
Q) How do you meet your future emissions targets?
Q) Do you think you understand the 911 better than any other car company understand its core products?
DR full article link p1
DR full article link p2
DR full article link p3
...now for the main course!
An excellent 21 minute audio interview with Andreas Preuninger and Chris Harris discussing the development of the new 911 GT3...
DR audio interview link
DR audio download link
DR dialogue comments
Many thanks to Andreas Preuninger at Porsche and Chris Harris at DR!
03-28-2009, 08:30 PM
#3
Rennlist Member
Did you hear the statement by Lee Diffey of Speedvision during the Sebring race?
he said that he heard "from a reliable source, the rumor that there is a replacement for the 911/RSR in the works, but not to expect it this year or next". He said "remember, you heard it from me...but, it is a rumor".
he said that he heard "from a reliable source, the rumor that there is a replacement for the 911/RSR in the works, but not to expect it this year or next". He said "remember, you heard it from me...but, it is a rumor".