Maxhouse97

If the comments made in Geneva are to be believed, it sounds like the factory will race the 9A1 (FIA GT4) ... just didn't think it would be on a Cayman first! What does this say about the 9A1? The factory deemed it strong enough for racing ... so why not race it in the 911 (RSR, GT America, etc.), and get the mpg advantage from DFI for endurance events? Economies of scale from 991 GT3 engine blocks?

Maybe incremental advantages (like mpg) these days don't matter as much with BoP. Still can't figure this one out. It is disappointing that BMW is willing to race a stock N55 in the M235i, yet to date Porsche was unwilling to race the 9A1. Race on Sunday, sell on Monday???

winders

Do you really think anyone but some of us Porsche motorheads even know the difference? Even less of us care......

Maxhouse97

Which he is why I posted it here

But think about it ... Porsches are attractive to me (and I suspect a few others) due to their racing heritage/closer link to race hardware than other cars. The drive to the track, race, and drive home kind of car.

993 and older - same block/engine in road and race cars
996/997 - M96/97 not so much, but Mezger in both race and road cars (GT3)
991 - no link between engines in road and race cars

rlm328

Maybe because the Cayman is a better platform?

GTgears

The 991 engine program has been hindered by the announcement of changes to ACO engine regulations. They raced the old engine at LeMans last year because they were unwilling to develop a new engine for a moving target. I love the idea of the Cayman Cup Car but it had nothing to do with the 991 Cup Cars.

the_vetman

This has been discussed many times before. Porsche is still racing Mezgers because it's homologated until later this decade and they are waiting for ACO regulations to become clearer before developing a new racing engine.

What's less clear to me is why 991 GT3 engines got dry sumps when Porsche tested 9A1 engine on a rig that simulated racing at Nurburgring to ensure adequate oiling and that it could take the abuse (youtube video on this out there from last decade). Dry sump is surely a good thing for racing, but why just on GT3 after testing 9A1 engine extensively and publishing the results? Just for marketing or did they subsequently find that true dry sumps were indeed needed?

Maxhouse97

So then I guess the 9A1 in the current 991 GT3 does not meet today's ACO specifications? Because they have already developed it for the road car, and I can't imagine it would be that much more to develop it for racing.

And didn't Porsche supposedly just develop a brand new engine for the GT3 RS, which is based on the design of the 991.2 engines going forward? Is this the engine they think will meet the new ACO regulations, or are they going to develop an additional engine?

I guess I'm just questioning how for the past 3 years we have not been able to buy as a road car the engine that Porsche races. To me this is a miss ... but like the previous post, I guess most people don't care.

Good point on a dry sump 9A1 vs the stock version.

the_vetman

It appears that was a miscommunication from Porsche AG. 991 GT3RS got a "brand new engine" in the sense that it's a 4.0 L vs. the 3.8 L in the GT3. There has been no info at all that GT3RS engine is any different except for displacement.

Agreed that it's been a miss for Porsche that road cars have not had race engines... all the way back to the advent of M96.

GTgears

Why should they incur the cost and increase the cost of all their cars? Does a Cayman or Boxster base model really need it's little 2.9l engine to be race derived? Porsche has gone mainstream in the last 15 years and as such their product line has diversified from their roots. They now make SUVs and sedans. The GT3 continued to use a race derived engine. It's their flagship. It is their racecar for the street. It's really the only one that should continue to have an engine with race heritage in this new market. All the doctors and lawyers in their C4S or Boxster Spyder don't really care, and they shouldn't.