Porsche goes green

[Gary Burch]

http://www.carpictures.com/vehicle/10C0F252729288.html

[ttweed]

That is a hot car! A hybrid that's faster than a Carrera GT? It's just a concept car at this point, but if it goes into production, I wonder what the MSRP will be? It will probably make the Tesla look cheap....

Here's a pic of it (rather than a rendering) from the Geneva show, with Walter Röhrl in the passenger seat.



and a video on YouTube.

TT

[gocart]

It doesn't use batteries. It uses a flywheel to store energy? We'll see if they produce it.

[Dan Chambers]

I think that is one beautiful car. I hope they poduce it, even in limited quantities.

I wonder if it will fit a guy over 6'2" tall?

[SDGT3]

The Williams F1 team used a flywheel KERS last year.

http://formula1.about.com/od/car1/a/kers.htm

[ttweed]

It doesn't use batteries. It uses a flywheel to store energy? We'll see if they produce it.

The specs say it has a "fluid-cooled lithium battery" which is regenerated under braking, but I didn't see any mention of the "flywheel" type energy storage/recovery system as used in the GT3R hybrid race car.

TT

[ttweed]

I think that is one beautiful car. I hope they poduce it, even in limited quantities.

I wonder if it is just an engineering exercise or whether they will actually put it into production. In the form of the concept car, it would have to be more expensive than the Carrera GT, which had an MSRP of $440,000. How many people could afford that? They had a hard time moving the 1500 CGTs they originally planned and quit making them at 1370, IIRC. Some kind of scaled-down version of it with a lower performance spec to compete with the Tesla would be interesting, though.

I wonder if it will fit a guy over 6'2" tall?

It will fit if you're 6'2" while sitting on a wallet with $500K in it, for sure!

TT

[mrondeau]

All pricing and practicality aside, that is one beautiful piece of eye candy! Now where did I put that extra key to the back door at Fort Knox?

[4est]

Of course it will fit a tall guy. Just leave the roof off. I wonder how tall you would have to be to disrupt air flow into the intake shown behind the drivers position. The wheels look a little contrived, IMHO.

[gocart]

The KERS system won't be back in F1 next year. So maybe Porsche should also drop the hybrid aspect of this car and just build it as an awesome super-car. Why would someone who could afford a supercar care about saving a few dollars on gas?
But who knows, maybe Porsche is planning on marketing this car as a commuter.
To make it affordable they could use a GT-2 or GT-3 power-train!

[Jad]

Hybrids are clearly not about saving a few dollars, the math just doesn't work out. They are a feel good purchase, that Prius that takes a ton of energy to build, litters the planet with dead batteries, and performs worse than the cheapest economy car makes a statement about caring for the planet which is a MUCH better statement than the Hummers that use to be the statement car in the 90's. And why does anyone buy a super exotic street car, to make a statement, so the hybrid is probably a good marketing ploy in my opinion. Just look at all the publicity they are getting.

[pdy]

The image and cachet of Hybrids, especially as new technology is definitely a draw, probably the biggest factor.

Also, this allows Porsche to develop automotive technology for the future, whether for Porsches or other, lesser cars.
Plus, electric motors produce enormous torque, especially from a standstill. There is a potential performance advantage.

[Kim Crosser]

Hybrid, shmybrid... I want one.

[Dan Chambers]

Seems to me the engineers at Porsche just plain ran out of new ideas. Wasn't one of the first cars Ferdinand Porsche Sr. designed in his ... what 20's? ... was an electric car with a motor at each wheel? And that was circa 1910? 1019?

Guess I'll get out some Victorian era clothing, a beaver-skinned top hat, and some chaps to drive in.

[gocart]

There was a recent Top Gear episode where a driver in a BMW M5 chased a Toyota Prius, which was being driven all out, around a race track. They measured the fuel consumption of each car. Guess what, the BMW actually got better mileage than the Prius.