An Inside Look At The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid
Last Year’s Underdog, This Year’s Favourite For The Ring 24?

For Sören Herweg, a life spent close to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen meant that the car of his dreams as a young boy - and now as a 22 year old automotive engineering student - was always a Porsche 911. The chance to take a closer look at the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid before the 24 Hours Nürburgring, therefore, was one he certainly wasn’t going to miss. With thanks to Porsche Motorsport for a close look at the car, a ride in a Porsche 911 GT2 RS and a dinner with Patrick Long and Marco Holzer.

Last year the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid was, for many insiders, the underdog for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The flywheel Porsche was leading the race with less than two hours until the falling of the checkered flag, when its normal aspired combustion engine failed.

But, for the Porsche Motorsport division, this was no reason the hang their heads and the car subsequently raced superbly in the ILMC races at Road Atlanta and Zhuhai. For the 2011 season the engineers at Porsche Motorsport worked on version 2.0 of the Hybrid, and this year the car will be driven by Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Richard Lietz and Marco Holzer.

A big difference you can spot between 1.0 and 2.0 is the loss of the cooler opening just behind the driver and passenger doors. But under the bodyshell a lot has changed: for example, the power of the Hybrid system was raised from 60 to 75 kilowatt. All in all, the drivers of the Hybrid have a boost power of 200 horsepower for several seconds, which on a Nordschleife lap results in a total power of about 30 hp. The 30 hp plus the 465 hp from the combustion engine give you a total power of 495 hp, which fields you in the lower half of the GT3 class at the Nürburgring.

Project Chief Dr. Daniel Armbruster gave an insight into the car: “Our goal is to use the heat energy generated during every breaking manoeuvre to fuel our Hybrid system. Because the Hybrid system is situated in the place of the passenger seat we have very good weight distribution, which has resulted in a more stable front axle, but also doesn’t result in more tyre wear. 

"Each front wheel has one electric engine, so we can distribute the power specifically to each wheel. And the electric power components are basically not destroyable.

“The flywheel is right next to the driver and is very close to the center of gravity. When the car is breaking the electric engines generate electric energy, which is transformed into kinetic energy and stored in the flywheel; and when we use the Hybrid system kinetic energy is retransformed into electric energy, powering each of the two engines up front. Last year, during the 24 Hours Nürburgring, the drivers had to press a button to use the extra power of the Hybrid system, but during the 2010 ILMC races we tested an automatic boost system, which we are using this year in Version 2.0; but we still have a manual boost button, which the drivers can use while lapping traffic.

“The flywheel, which is rotating at about 36,000 rpm, has been built by Williams and has been inspired by the F1 system they tested in 2009. But the system is not the same one as they tested, and has been built to our requirements. For this year we have covered the whole Hybrid system in a carbon fibre box. We were also able to bring the weight down from 1,350 kg to 1,300 kg, which has resulted in a tank capacity reduction of 10 litres. But our goal, of course, is to have more power while using less fuel. “

Another part that has changed from last year’s car to this year’s is the steering wheel. “This year we have a steering wheel, very similar to one you would find in an F1 car, resulting in high demands on the drivers,” said Marco Holzer.

Holzer’s summary of the car: “The Hybrid is probably the only car winning when we are braking.”

Sören Herweg