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Woo hoo - Porsche go kick some ***! Yessssssss

ltc

F
Please see me after class. Diesels are more efficient than gas engines due to physics, not human regulations.

Streak

Not sure how you just ignore the legendary racing history of Porsche as if Porsche is the Johnny come lately to LeMans. The brand was built on racing. It's what they do. It's what they've always done. It's what they always will do.

I, for one, could not be more excited about their return to LMP1.

Damn shame we will probably never see that car here though.

ltc

Yes, Porsche has a great history in motorsports, especially LeMans, but it stopped in 1998 (no need to get into the reasons why, let's just say "W" and be done with it)

However, I still fail to see the reason for Porsche to compete in P1 and to race the 911 unless it is purely a brand driven marketing exercise.
Porsche won't compete with Audi, unless again it is decided for marketing reasons that Porsche should win LeMans instead of Audi.
Or perhaps Audi will be pulling back from LeMans and Porsche will carry the VAG banner for a while.

In any event, I doubt Porsche has gone back for racing reasons, like they did when they were independent.

It will be interesting to see how different the Audi LMP1 and Porsche LMP1 cars truly are ... my guess is that this will be a Touareg/Cayenne situation once you look under the skins.

tedean

93 FireHawk 968

Same paint theme as you see on a Lambo. I do like the tatoo look.

As for A or B Team, I'm glad to see manufacturers increasing their exposure in motorsports.

Doug007

Diesel engines are also heavier and have lower limits on engine speed (which has a direct influence on power) due to physics, not human regulations. There are very good reasons that very few cars in the history of racing have burned oil.

Efficiency helps with endurance racing, but it is not the be all, end all...

insite

power, not efficiency, generally wins races. diesels are more efficient at work, but power = work / time. to gain that work efficiency, the stroke of a diesel engine is very long. this impedes engine speed and in turn, power.

those winning audis did so with larger air restrictors than their gasoiline counterparts, despite the fact that diesel contains more energy than gas (by more than ten percent). diesels also enjoyed (and will continue to enjoy) a displacement advantage.

for a given displacement, a diesel may be more efficient. it will not, however, be nearly as powerful.

so let's compare last year:

gas
3.4L NA or 2.0L turbo
33mm air restrictor

diesel
3.7L turbo
33mm air restrictor
+11% energy content in fuel

looks like the more efficient diesel needs help to win races.

mile2424

Looks like a modern 917/956/962. From these first shots I think the RS Spyder was more of an unseen and new look race car that had that wow and drool factor yet still didn't look like most other prototypes. It will be interesting to see more shots of this one and how it progresses before Le Mans in 2014.

multi21

I dont' think it's negativity but rather a skepticism of "Will Porsche really be competing with Audi". If you or I sat on the VAG board would we want an arms race between our two subsidiaries, Porsche and Audi? The arguments ltc brings up are valid. If Porsche cannot compete with Audi (at least initially) and gets beat convincingly, it's not a good image for the sports car brand that has a long history of winning at LeMans. If Audi gets beaten convincingly, how with their brand image suffer as a result? If both Porsche and Audi have a slug fest for the overall win, will it have been engineered by the suits in the boardroom for a positive brand image to benefit both Porsche and Audi? Unfortunately, what is called the "purity" of the spectacle could be manipulated. I don't buy the A and B team argument as Porsche will not want to be the Toro Rosso to the Red Bulls Racing and Audi will not want to take a back seat to Porsche given their dominance in the past decade.

Flying Finn

What is the point of any manufacturer to have a prototype team besides branding/marketing?

Product development for street cars?
Not buying... Same stuff can be done in GTs where they actually would have more direct relation to street cars.

I'm glad to see Porsche FINALLY back, they should've been there in the first place when VAG made the decision to put Audi instead.

Cheyenne

Technology development, not just product development.

It's too bad, from the 60's to the 80's Porsche and Honda were so far ahead of everyone else...now there doesn't seem to be a point. Porsche became just another sales company, and Honda was too broad focus to bother being a king of sports cars...they could have though, and nobody else would have come close.

GTgears

Profit. Porsche, unlike most other motorsports divisions, has always run their motorsports division as a very profitable piece of the company. When the RS Spyder stopped turning a profit is when they pulled the plug on it. That's their model and has been for a very long time. There is nobody in motorsports who touches Porsche's profitability.

ltc

Why have 2 essentially similar cars from 2 brands from the same parent company when one (Audi) has owned LeMans for years.
The success of one must come at the expense of the other, so what's the point?

winders

I don't get you guys.

Just because both Audi and Porsche have the same parent company does not mean they cannot compete against each other autonomously. Porsche made its brand on racing. Being successful at the top levels of sports car racing is great for their business. It's a marketing tool for sales of cars and for their engineering business.

Porsche obviously believes they can win within a budget that makes sense. I don't see the issue....

Scott