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Porsche has announced that they will be entering an improved version of the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid into the upcoming Nürburgring 24 hour race on June 25, 2011. The hybrid system will combine the same 480 HP 4.0 Liter flat six engine delivering the same 480 hp with two electric motors that each produce 100 HP, as opposed to the original 75 HP each. The weight has also been lowered from 1,350 to 1,300 kilograms, or 2976 lbs to 2866 lbs. "We’ve collected a great deal of information from our races on the Nürburgring, at the ALMS race at Road Atlanta in the USA, as well as from the ILMC race on China’s Zhuhai circuit, which was an invaluable help for the further development of our racing laboratory," says Hartmut Kristen, head of Porsche motorsport. "The emphasis of our work was on improving efficiency. That means we want to keep the lap times consis-tent with 2010 but use less energy, hence less fuel. In this way, we support future developments of road-going, sporting hybrid vehicles." UPDATE 10/06/2011: The new GT3 R Hybrid made its debut at this year’s Laguna Seca, racing its way to a victory! Check out Porsche’s new video showing off the GT3R in action during the race by clicking on the image above. Enjoy! Hit the jump to read more about the 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0. Exterior  The 2011 model’s, or Version 2.0, exterior will be distinguished from the previous version by the elimination of the large louvers in front of the rear fenders. This will allow for reduced drag and better fuel consumption. It has also undergone various winter testing that has lead to a 50lb drop in weight, from 1,350lbs down to 1,300lbs. Interior Other than the motors, the biggest changes for the Version 2.0 will be found in the interior. The cockpit has been completely revised with most of the displays and controls getting moved to the steering wheel. Drivers can operate the rest of the functions via backlit buttons now situated on the center console. This purposeful placement was done to increase the efficiency for the driver. Engine Like with the previous model, the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0 is powered by a hybrid system that combines a 465 HP 4.0 Liter flat six engine placed in the rear with two electric motors that drive the front wheels. The two motors will add an extra 200 HP (100 hp each) as opposed to the 150 HP offered on the first model. This power is automatically activated through the throttle pedal and can be quickly called upon when zipping around a competitor. Other than situations where the extra power can be used to overtake the competition for a few seconds, the Porsche will rely on the 4.0L engine for its stamina. The Porsche was also taken from 1350lbs down to 1300 lbs after a few test runs on the track. The electric flywheel accumulator, wrapped in carbon fiber, can still be found on the passenger’s side, stored comfortably in a carbon fiber safety cell. “We’ve made huge strides forward with the further-developed 911 GT3 R Hybrid. But testing under race conditions gives us additional information that is not easy to collect during a simulation,” says Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport. “We’ll use the information gained from the VLN races to make our racing lab even more reliable and economical.” Competition With this new version, Porsche wants to obtain at least the same results they did last year. But the question still remains if the new GT3 R Hybrid model is ready to take on models like the Audi RS and the BMW M3, who were its biggest competitors last year. In an official statement after the race in 2010, Timo Bernhard (Germany), one of the GT3 drivers, said: "It is extraordinary to climb to the top of the podium at the first race ever of a new race car. It seems the new 911 GT3 R has inherited the reliability of all racing 911. With 14.5 and 3.6 seconds respectively, the three Porsche pilots relegated the best Audi RS and the BMW M3 to finish second and third."   Improved hybrid drivetrain
Lighter than previous model
General look is improved
It’s a race car, so don’t expect to have the chance to drive it
13 comments: Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0 Wow! Very impressive! I can’t say anything but just be amazed by this car! The body design is perfect, the color combination is perfect.. Perfect sports car for me! There’s nothing more I can say..
 A hybrid version? I don’t think that it is a good idea, for me a hybrid or electric motor will not really work in a race car like this. Anyway, as for the looks of this GT3, I can say that the improvement was really looking so nice.
 Totally a hybrid vehicle car, and dealing to its speed and performance truly competitive. Since this made into more distinct and very personalize even like the accessories and style.
 Well, I was thinking on where will be this car driving around. For a racing prototype this car seems impressive and look so aggressive.
 Most probably, this would be similar with the Porsche 918. Hell! That car was built for exclusivity and ordinary people will not have a chance to drive this impressive vehicle.
 Well, recently I know Porsche has been working on GT3 version. The power performance of this car is quite amazing as expected from the GT cars.
 Yeah, this one really does look promising. Ah, so they are using this one as a testbed, well I hope that the results that they would get from this would also be used in the production cars.
 Well now, a hybrid 911, this is certainly going to be something. And it seems that they have already improved the engine performance on this.
 I am starting to like these hybrid GT cars. I initially thought that they would be slower than their petrol power counterparts, but I was actually wrong.
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Posted on
10.25.2011 @ 02:53