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Porsche updates 919 Hybrid LMP1 for 2015 assault [w/video]

Last season, Porsche returned to the top level of endurance racing with the 919 Hybrid, picking up a mantle that has seen the German marque win the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record sixteen times – more than any other manufacturer ever to compete at the legendary French race. Of course, Porsche didn't beat its sister company Audi right out of the box, but managed to win the last race in the FIA World Endurance Championship in Brazil before the season was done. This year it undoubtedly hopes to do even better, and this is the machine with which it will endeavor to take the top honors. Newly revised and optimized for the 2015 season, the new 919 Hybrid was just revealed on the eve of the first test session of the season at the Paul Ricard test track in the South of France. It may look largely the same as the model it succeeds, but benefits from numerous advancements made to help Porsche catch up with Audi and Toyota. For starters, Zuffenhausen has opted to step up to the eight-megajoule category, favoring the electric side of its hybrid powertrain over the internal combustion engine. So the compact 2.0-liter turbocharged V4 now drives in excess of 500 horsepower to the rear wheels, and the electric motor – powered by two energy recovery systems and a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery – kicks in upwards of 400 hp to the front wheels. The rest of the package has been comprehensively updated as well, giving it a lower weight, improved rigidity, revised suspension and reshaped aerodynamic elements. Porsche will field two cars at most of the races this season, but will increase its team to three cars for certain races – one in black, one in white and one in red. Following the "prologue" test session at Paul Ricard this weekend, the season kicks off with the 6 Hours of Silverstone on April 12, when the new Porsche 919 Hybrid will take on the similarly revised Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro and Toyota TS040 Hybrid for the first time in earnest. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) LMP1 presentation 2015 Porsche 919 Hybrid – proven base was extensively optimised Suttgart. At the Paul Ricard Circuit in France today, Porsche presented the second generation of its Le Mans Prototype 919 Hybrid race car as a technical evolution in a three-colour concept. Porsche also confirmed it will switch to the highest of the four energy categories in the LMP1 class.

Crash sends race car driver sliding into first place

A Belgian race car driver won an unexpected victory at the 2016 FIA GT World Cup race last weekend when he slid to victory on the roof of his car. According to Motorsport.com, this year's FIA GT World Cup race at the Macau Guia race track in Macau was more accident prone than usual. The race had already been delayed by one crash earlier in the day when Belgian driver Laurens Vanthoor went into Mandarin Bend too hot chasing Porsche driver Earl Bamber, to whom Vanthoor had just lost his lead. Vanthoor's Audi clipped a wall at about 155 miles per hour causing his car to flipped on to its roof and continued down the straightaway at speed. Thankfully, despite the speed and violence of the crash, Vanthoor escaped mostly unscathed. Officials immediately red-flagged the race and, because of delays caused by the earlier crash, the race was called. Since the race was canceled, officials performed a countback on the previous lap's results and declared Vanthoor the winner despite the fact that he finished upside down. In the aftermath, a shaken Vanthoor questioned whether or not he deserved to win. "I don't really know if I deserved it in a way, as I crashed and made a mistake and I am still a winner – which is very awkward," Vanthoor told Motorsport. "But I don't really know what to say. It would have been a better show for everybody without the crash and a better victory, but I don't know what to think about it." Related Video: News Source: Motorsport.com Auto News Weird Car News Audi Porsche fia macau red flag

2015 Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid

When the Porsche Panamera joined the hybrid poker game with the S Hybrid, it started with a seat at the penny-ante table: engineers inserted a 47-horsepower electric motor between the gas engine and eight-speed automatic, powered by a 1.7-kWh nickel-metal hydride battery. It was tiny stakes, the kind of non-risk taken when you're trying to figure out both how to play the game and how you want to play the game. After two years of experimenting, the 2015 Panamera S E-Hybrid makes a bigger bet – the kind that requires paper bills and the maxim, "If you can't fold it, hold it." Porsche's plug-in hybrid gets every adjective we expect of a successor from Stuttgart: more complex, more efficient, more powerful and faster. Driving Notes The electric motor leaps from 47 hp to 95 hp thanks to more windings on the stator coils and new power electronics. The battery goes from a 1.7-kWh nickel-metal hydride unit to 9.4-kWh lithium-ion setup; it's the same physical size as before, still mounted under the cargo deck. Internal combustion still comes from the Audi-sourced, 333-hp, supercharged V6, but total system power goes from 380 hp and 428 pound-feet of torque in the S Hybrid to 416 hp and 435 lb-ft in the S E-Hybrid. The previous system could run a mile on electricity, this one is estimated to last more than 20 miles on e-power on the European cycle. The 0-60 dash takes 5.2 seconds, down from 5.7 seconds; top speed in electric-only mode is 84 mph – up from 50 mph. It takes 2.5 hours at a 240-volt outlet to fully recharge the battery; the Porsche Universal Charger comes equipped with a cable for that and a standard 120-volt socket. Only Panamera obsessives will notice the sheetmetal changes for 2015, but there are sharper lines on the front and rear fascias, faint revisions made to the light clusters, wider glass – over the same-sized opening – on the rear tailgate, and a wider rear spoiler. Outsiders will know the S E-Hybrid because of Acid Green highlights on the fender and tailgate logos, as well as the Acid Green brake calipers. Inside, the central tach remains, but the analog speedometer was evicted to make space for the battery power meter, and Acid Green needles dance across all the gauges. The navigation screen shows your electric driving range and the Porsche Car Connect service provides the expected, smartphone-controlled e-mobility features.