wizee

I think it’s just a top view of the front of the new Macan EV.

MaxLTV

But why all the mystery and intrigue? Electric Macan was launched and reviewed a while ago. Also, the splitter looks too big for an SUV.

Larson E. Rapp

They are teasing the new Canyonero, or whatever the pending bigger-than-Cayenne model is called.

UncleDude

LOL Canyonero…

Drifting

Will be very interesting to see if porsche doesn’t reverse course in the next 5 years or at least establish a parallel course with ICE cayman/boxster production?

Nobody cared much about 4 banger turbo 718s anyway.

So I wonder if 5-7 years from now, while continuing to produce “regular” electric 718 models if Porsche might also resume production of a special drivers cars that are NA and manual such as ICE Spyder/GT4?

johnrichard

At the Bend race track (awesome facility with 4 tracks in one, longest 7.77km and 38 corners) in ICE Cayman GT4RS. Great car!
Two EV cars there. BMW i8 (hybrid) and Tesla S. Both useless as heavy (poor cornering) brakes (stopping ability poor), i8 ran out of battery so ran on 1.5l engine only, Tesla battery pack overheated, couldn't drive or recharge! Great EV world coming...

bantam1

This is two essentially first generation EVs that were not designed with motorsports in mind compared to an RS on a racetrack…

As for me, I am curious to see what Porsche can deliver on this new architecture, despite not being interested in purchasing one myself

Drifting

Agree. Thats like comparing a ford model A to cars 15 years later that were more fully developed. The Taycan does far better on the track because that was part of the design.
But even the Taycan still can't do the same full track session as an ICE car

Zhao

Just goes to show the tech isn't ready yet for sports cars and track.

I was instructing for road race licensing yesterday and one student brought a 2000ish nissan sentra automatic. another girl brought a CVT legacy. Someone else brought a 90s civic. These are all cars that had zero motorsport thought when designed but had no problem bagging around the track all day for 20 minute sessions at a time.

Also, lithium ion batteries just got banned in Canada by our FIA federal level body so that instantly bans them at all regional chapters, so you wont be seeing a EV allowed at an event unless they self sanction and figure out their own insurance.

On a positive note we've had EV karts in my city for about 15 years now, and the current evolution of them are actually quite good. They started out sucking by power starving from lack of being able to charge them fast enough on a busy day so you could be down huge on power if you got the wrong kart, but they're pretty decent now. I would say they're pretty consistent for power and fast charging seems to keep them at full charge even when the place is at peak capacity.

ipse dixit

Yes, agreed.

A Taycan Turbo S (not the new GT) can do a good solid 20 minutes with no real impediment from the EV architecture.

Now, the consumables (tires, pads, etc.) are a different story.

But on the EV side, the Taycan is fine. I would imagine some of the newer models, esp. the Ioniq 5N (which I am dying to try) will be even better.

spdracerut

Hyundai has said the Ioniq 5N will do two laps of the Nurburgring without thermal issues.

ipse dixit

It does.

Zhao

2 laps without thermal issues sure, but power loss? It shouldn't be able to complete 2 laps with full performance.

Either way though that car looks good actually on track. Looks good on the limit as far you can tell in a video with what looks like good balance and I like the way it visually feels running curbing and S sections. It's not getting upset nor does it have weird handling on the limit (probably a lot of aids doing a lot of work), nor does it sound or visually look like it's really feeling it's massive weight in the corners which is what is probably the most impressive aspect. But it still looks heavy and you can tell under braking in a few sections it's slowing down a lot of weight for the tires. Like all EV's it looks sluggish on the top end too but realistically that is of little concern to me since most tracks aren't north of 200kph tracks.

Too bad about the conga line for the last half of the lap as I couldn't tell how much power fell off since it was traffic from like 60% power on.

However on pricing, it's just too expensive for basically just being a 1 track session party trick. I could save money and buy something I can bang around all day that is probably just as quick or quicker, like a camaro or supra. It also apparently weighs 4800 pounds which is simply amazing. I figured it would be on the lighter end of 4000lbs too based on that video so even more impressed with what I saw, but also totally turned off by that number... and that weight must be murder on consumables. I imagine it would be very easy to destroy a set of tires in the 20 minutes you get on track. Heat generation in the brakes must be murderous too.

ipse dixit

Trust me, those cars are not quicker on most racks (dunno about the Ring) than the N. They just aren't. At least not for a couple of hero laps.

At Laguna Seca, the N could do 20 minutes without any degradation in terms of battery or power. So there's that.

Look, no one is saying an EV like the N is a perfect track car. It clearly is not.

What the N represents is the nascent frontiers of what a track-focused EV can be with current state of technology.

The fact that Hyundai is able to make a mass produced EV for the general market for an MSRP ~65k that (1) simulates a dual clutch transmission in all aspects; (2) create enough traction dynamics to allow for things like "drift mode" as silly as that may be; (3) synchronize synthetic engine noise with the "clutch" engage of the simulated PDK is something that car geeks like ourselves should all take notice, if not outright applaud.

And Hyundai did it all in a package that can outlap most traditional track cars under 150k MSRP.

Again, no one is saying the N is a perfect embodiment of a track toy, but at a minimum it represents the very tantalizing frontiers of what can be done, and what is to come.

Schn3ll

I guess I don’t understand why people would want a car that’s “almost good enough”.

If you want a track car, you would never start with an SUV body. And you sure wouldn’t want it nearly 5,000lbs.

At $67k you can a C8. You could also find a plethora of used vehicles that will do lap after lap on the track and give you a non-simulated shift and real engine noise.

Why would you want a beta product that’s 60% what a fleshed out ICE sports car is today, for more money?

That’s like going out to eat and spending $20 on an “impossible burger” when the real thing is $13 and tastes 10x better.

If someone HAS to have a goofy EV, just wait 1 year and get it half priced. The shine on this N model is already fading.