Porsche Carrera GT and its F1 origins

Porsche Carrera GT and its F1 origins
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You probably didn’t know this, the engine found in the Carrera GT started life as an F1 engine, then to a Le Mans and lastly into where it is today, the Carrera GT.

A lot of people seem to think that it started life as a Le Mans engine, however, this is incorrect, here is the true story.

Porsche in the 80’s was building F1 engines, something you didn’t know, Porsche built engines that won two constructor championship titles and were responsible for over two dozen F1 wins. Porsche designed and built the V6 turbo engines that gave McLaren their 1984 to 1986 wins, this might be something you didn’t know until now. There was a reason for this, the engines were funded by a company of the name TAG, which held the naming rights to the engine. Porsche however, had their name stamped on the plenum cover.

The Porsche 1.5 litre V6 Turbo F1 engine designed by Hans Mezger

The Porsche 1.5 litre V6 Turbo F1 engine designed by Hans Mezger

http://www.enginelabs.com/engine-tech/cam-valvetrain/developing-porsches-greatest-f1-engine/

So where did all this success take Porsche? In 1991 Porsche powered the Footwork F1 team with a V12, it was quite bad, so bad in fact that Footwork dumped Porsche and switched to Ford engines right in the middle of the season.

Whilst all this happened, Porsche was developing a new engine for the 1992 season, a 3.5 litre V10. Unfortunately, due to Footwork cancelling the deal, Porsche was left with an unused F1 engine. Back to the drawing board as Porsche couldn’t leave a behemoth of an engine laying around to catch dust, instead they decided to use the V10 to power its Le Mans program.

 1991 Footwork Porsche F1 FA12-2

1991 Footwork Porsche F1 FA12-2

Porsche Post - PCGB magazine

In the 1990’s, Porsche had been very active in Le Mans, winning three times overall. Two wins came in the Porsche powered TWR prototypes and one from Porsche’s very own prototype, the famously known GT1 race car. The GT1 win was in 1998, after this, Porsche decided to develop an LMP1 car, which they called the 9R3. The 9R3 was the car that was suited to use the F1 engine, but not before Porsche did some work to it to make it Le Mans ready. Porsche increased the capacity to both 5.0 and 5.5 litres, added some air restrictors for racing regulations, deleting the F1 engine’s pneumatic valve system.

The Porsche 9R3 LMP900 which utilised the same V10 engine found in the Carrera GT.

The Porsche 9R3 LMP900 which utilised the same V10 engine found in the Carrera GT.

Mulsanne's Corner

Unfortunately, Porsche hit some financial strife, so the LMP1 car was cancelled. Instead, all financial support was steered towards the development of the new SUV called the ‘Cayenne’. Porsche needed a cash injection, they only saw that this would happen with the introduction of a new model that will appeal to a wider audience, one that can transport a family, what else than a SUV?

The Cayenne was a huge success, as can be seen today, with over 73,119 cars delivered in 2015 alone*. Since the introduction of the Cayenne in 2003, Porsche now had enough money to proceed with creating the Porsche Carrera GT. Porsche decided to grab the old V10 F1 engine off the shelf, bump the displacement to 5.7 litres and drop it into the Carrera GT.

The same V10 that was designed to power an F1, Le Mans and the Carrera GT . Here it sits in the 9R3 LMP.

The same V10 that was designed to power an F1, Le Mans and the Carrera GT . Here it sits in the 9R3 LMP.

Mulsanne's Corner

Like all racing engines, and F1 engines, the Carrera GT’s motor was dry-sumped and it bolted directly onto the carbon-fibre chassis. It is a 68-degree V10 that had cylinder liners coated with Nikasil (Nickel and Silicon solution) just like every other F1 engine.

The V10 screams like an F1 race car all the way to 8,400 rpm, blasting out 605 horsepower and the revs rose exactly like a race car, so exact in fact that you really do think you’re driving an F1 car, hence why people are so addicted to the Carrera GT. The level of sensitivity to the throttle is unmatched, even in 2017, the car has a reputation for stalling, well most of that could be due to the world’s first, twin plated PCCC (Porsche Carbon Ceramic Clutch).

Like all F1 cars, the Porsche Carrera GT doesn’t use a flywheel, instead it uses a shaft, hence why it gains revs so easily and then loses them so quickly on a slow gear change. This mated to its perfect 6 speed manual gearbox, is what you call the perfect drivers car.

The only Porsche Carrera GT in Sydney, belonging to Lecha Khouri.

The only Porsche Carrera GT in Sydney, belonging to Lecha Khouri.

Supercar Advocates

It is worth noting that the Carrera GT is the first production car to utilise a carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) monocoque chassis. The chassis was based on the Le mans wining 1998 GT1 and weighs 220 pounds.

Unlike most other hypercars, the Porsche Carrera GT draws all of its cutting edge performance aides directly from motorsports, with an engine derived from an F1 program, a chassis from a Le Mans winning car, what more could you want from one of the greatest Porsche's ever made, the Carrera GT.

Enough background information, and let’s jump straight into a real world sound test, this is why the Porsche Carrera GT sounds and performs like an F1 car. Click the window below.

This article is written by Lecha Khouri at Supercar Advocates, based in Sydney, Australia.

* Latest figures supplied by http://press.porsche.com/news/release.php?id=972

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