Last week, we sat down with Porsche motorsport vice president Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser at the LA Auto Show to find out more about the latest 911 RSR
It's an almost entirely different car
This fundamental change meant the Porsche motorsport team had to start pretty much from scratch. “Setting it up is completely different to the old car. That’s something we had to learn - aero settings, spring/damper settings, the rake of the car, how it behaves….It’s not so easy,” Walliser explains.
While the platform is the same, almost everything else is new. We’re talking new bodywork with new aero, entirely new suspension, and even a new engine, with the legendary Mezger unit retired and replaced with the same flax-six found in the 911 Cup.
Oh and on the subject of aero, that wing is derived from the 919 Hybrid’s. The top mount structure is all about giving a smoother surface on the underside of the wing, which Walliser tells us is the more sensitive side of the aero piece.
Despite the engine now being in front of the rear axle, weight distribution hasn’t improved by a dramatic amount. “We’re talking about two to three per cent difference,” Walliser says, but while that may not sound like a huge amount to you or I, in the precise world of motorsport that’s a considerably improvement.
Crucially, weight distribution only tells part of the story. Having the engine’s mass more centralised will make the car easier to control, and there are packaging advantages too - the 2017 RSR is able to have a much larger and more effective diffuser than the old car since there isn’t a ruddy great flat-six in the way.
The 2017 RSR technically isn’t the first 911 to be mid-engined. That honour goes to the 911 GT1 prototype racer of the 1990s, which was a 911 in name and little else.
But here’s a fun little pub fact for you: the new RSR’s lengthened wheelbase (increased by 60mm compared to the old car) is actually longer than the GT1’s. That’s progress for you.
Complete list (CarThrottle.com)
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