Porsche just removed the wraps from their all-new GT car at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Holy cow, it’s mid-engined!
Porsche will tackle the 2017 racing season with a newly developed GT racer. The new 911 RSR makes full use of the breadth of the Le Mans 24 Hours GT regulations, and in addition to lightweight design, features the ultra-modern, …
Well, they finally caved. 
Wasn't this a very poorly kept secret for a while now? I'm most curious about whether this will spawn a road car variant. Yes I know they build the Cayman, and it's not like I could afford one anyway, I just want to know if Porsche is nutty enough to do it.
Looks like they finally figured out how to do it the right way
What's next?!? A mid-engined Corvette!?!?! At least the 'mericans' have the balls to hold on to tradition!!
BLASPHEMY!!!!
aircooled wrote: What's next?!? A mid-engined Corvette!?!?! At least the 'mericans' have the balls to hold on to tradition!!
Ummm....Corvette DP?
I have a bit of an issue with the direction GTLM/GTE is going. I don't think the Ford should have been able to run this year. I don't think Porsche should be able to run a mid engine car, unless they base it on the Cayman. The class is supposed to be production based. Ford wasn't in production, and the Porsche doesn't exist.
I guess if you go back to the Grand-Am days they ran tube chassis Mazda RX-8s with 3 rotor motors. Those had nothing to do with production cars. Guess it isn't that different.
Sort of like NASCAR, where the total number of actual components from the cars they're pretending to be can be counted on one hand.
aircooled wrote: What's next?!? A mid-engined Corvette!?!?! At least the 'mericans' have the balls to hold on to tradition!!
Not sure if joking. The Corvette is already technically mid-engined. The whole thing is behind the front axle.
They just need homologation rules again. Or more strict ones. Racing the Ford GT is one of those fuzzy areas that you let slip because it's good for the sport. The 911 is at least based on the same shell that they sell. I'd like to see what they had to modify to make it work and how that fits in with the rules. And there is always the thought that Porsche is about to announce their next special car which is why this was allowed. We'll see.
This seems fairly irrelevant. Interesting, but irrelevant to me other than as a fan of racing. There is no tie to a real production car other than the model name. I guess they can't call it a Cayman and take any of the glory away from the 911. I'm going to go ahead and predict that it will be fast and win some races.
Huckleberry wrote:aircooled wrote: What's next?!? A mid-engined Corvette!?!?! At least the 'mericans' have the balls to hold on to tradition!!Not sure if joking. The Corvette is already technically mid-engined. The whole thing is behind the front axle.
Warning: rant ahead: I think the whole "front-mid engine" expression is more for marketing than anything else. For example, if the furthest forward point on the engine of your car are the heads of the water pump pulley bolts, and the front face of these bolts stick past the front axle centerline by 1mm, do you really think that you can say you've converted your car to a mid engine car just by shaving 2mm off the end faces of the bolt heads? I don't think so.
Rumors have been spreading around for a while that they might actually make a mid-engine Corvette:
http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/a29781/mid-engine-corvette-2018-rumors/
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2019-chevrolet-corvette-mid-engine-c8-spy-photos-news
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/09/12/2019-mid-engine-chevy-corvette-details/
On a different tangent, it's interesting to see so many OEM's invest so heavily into this class of racing.
That seems like a very good thing.
kb58 wrote: Sort of like NASCAR, where the total number of actual components from the cars they're pretending to be can be counted IN YOUR IMAGINATION.
Fixicated for accuracy.
kb58 wrote: Sort of like NASCAR, where the total number of actual components from the cars they're pretending to be can be counted on one hand.
Well, much of the engine in the Ford GT is pulled straight off the production line. It managed to find some flaws in the process.... And I would be stunned if the CF body isn't the same- there's no reason not to use the CF body that is already done.
Granted, the GT still isn't in production.
But the engine is. I'm still pretty geeked up by the engine used in the race car.
These aren't tube frame clean sheet builds. They start with a tub off the line and then modify it and race with a motor that is based off what they put in their road cars. To me, as a fan, it's worlds different than NASCAR.
Huckleberry wrote:aircooled wrote: What's next?!? A mid-engined Corvette!?!?! At least the 'mericans' have the balls to hold on to tradition!!Not sure if joking. The Corvette is already technically mid-engined. The whole thing is behind the front axle.
I was kind of hoping people would remember the mid-engined Corvette which might appear next year:
Regarding the mid-engined 911: Honestly there were many advantages a rear-engined car had in the "old days". Add a radiatorless motor, and pick up a few more advantages.
Most all of those advantages have disappeared with modern improvements and requirement. (Heck, the packaging advantage is basically made worse when you add a radiator and 4 wheel drive driveshaft!)
I don't think there is any reason to make a rear-engined car these days other then tradition. I suspect most everyone here realizes that of course.
Ah, the good "old days"...
Huckleberry wrote:aircooled wrote: What's next?!? A mid-engined Corvette!?!?! At least the 'mericans' have the balls to hold on to tradition!!Not sure if joking. The Corvette is already technically mid-engined. The whole thing is behind the front axle.
what does make a mid-engine car a mid-engine car because you make a good point but how far does it have to be to the back axle
Matt B wrote: Well, they finally caved.
It took them long enough to abandon the pretense of air cooling, and now this.
Maybe at some point they will put the ignition lock cylinder on the right side of the steering column? Although I suppose push button start/smart fobs render that moot.
Serious question: Do any newer Porschen have smart fobs and keyless start, and if so, is the button on the left?
fireball123 wrote: what does make a mid-engine car a mid-engine car because you make a good point but how far does it have to be to the back axle
A mid engined car has the engine between the passenger compartment and the rear axle.
kb58 wrote: Sort of like NASCAR, where the total number of actual components from the cars they're pretending to be can be counted on one hand.
I'm pretty sure in NASCAR you can count the number of production car parts on your fins!
Knurled wrote:fireball123 wrote: what does make a mid-engine car a mid-engine car because you make a good point but how far does it have to be to the back axleA mid engined car has the engine between the passenger compartment and the rear axle.
That's a rear-mid engined car, a subset of mid-engined cars, which have the engine between the axle lines somewhere.
Let's all remember they DID make a mid engined corvette.
It was called the fiero.
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