Porsche have a new 911 RSR, that teeters on the edges of the rule-book, set to make its début at the Daytona 24-hour race in January 2017.
The 2017 racing season will soon be upon us and Porsche have an all-new GT racer. Making full use of the regulations for the Le Mans 24 Hours GT, the new Porsche 911 RSR is the result of a systematic lightweight design and now packs an ultra-modern 4.0-litre six-cylinder Boxer engine positioned just ahead of the rear axle. The new engine is extremely light and direct fuel injection as well as a rigid valve drive, plus promises outstanding efficiency.
The water-cooled six-cylinder boxer has a 102-mm bore and an 81.5-mm stroke for a displacement for 3,996 cc and develops more or less 510 PS – depending on the restrictor. It’s mated to a six-speed sequential constant-mesh gearbox with a two-shaft longitudinal layout with a bevel gear, that shifts via an electronic actuator with paddles on the steering wheel. The gearbox casing is made of magnesium. It also packs a three-disc carbon race clutch and a multi-disc self-locking differential with a visco unit, for even tighter vibration and damping control. The whole car weighs less than 1,250 kg; that’s 410 PS/tonne.
Head of Porsche Motorsport, Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, said, “While retaining the typical 911 design, this is the biggest evolution by now in the history of our top GT model. The new 911 RSR is a completely new development: the suspension, body structure, aerodynamic concept, engine and transmission have all been designed from scratch. The engine concept has enabled the designers to install a particularly large rear diffuser. Combined with a top-mounted rear wing adopted from the LMP1 race car, the 919 Hybrid, the level of downforce and the aerodynamic efficiency were significantly improved.
“For the 911 RSR, we deliberately focussed on a particularly modern and light normally-aspirated engine, as this gave our engineers immense latitude in developing the vehicle,” explains Dr Walliser. “Apart from that, in principle, the LM-GTE regulations stipulate the absolute equality of various drive concepts, as the torque characteristics of turbo and normally aspirated engines are aligned.”
The 911 RSR is the new spearhead of the Porsche GT racing car family, after the 911 GT3 R and the 911 GT3 Cup, to be powered by their cutting-edge six-cylinder boxer engine.
Story: Jim Gorde
