Sunday Drive #3 – Turbo–phantom pain.
“It gets a little bit louder above 5.000 rpm so you can't hear the passenger scream.” Porsche 911 Turbo ad.
Premiere
Porsche has just revealed the electric version of its second most popular model – the Macan. The second, almost the first, because in the sales results, only 199 units were missing to overtake the most popular model (Cayenne) in 2023.
The new incarnation is, of course, electric. Two versions will hit the showrooms from day one: Macan 4 and Macan Turbo. Both models have two engines, both are powerful (408 HP and 639 HP) and fast - even 3.3 seconds to 100 km/h in the “Turbo” version.
Press
You won't find a turbine anywhere in the electric Macan. However, in the still warm issue of The Road Rat, we will find her on the cover.
It's a feast for the eyes inside, with the history of the 911 Turbo commemorating its golden anniversary. The author of the text is Mel Nichols, who was the editor-in-chief of the British Car Magazine in the 1970s. Back then, he went to the 911 Turbo premiere and shares memories of the confusion this model caused in the supercar market. The story also features one of the most controversial and glorified editors writing about cars - LJK Setright. Several of his texts can be found in the online archives of Car Magazine.
One of the sections of the British Top Gear magazine is “Retro”. The February edition inludes a report from the largest Porsche racing meeting - Rennsport Reunion 7. In 2023, it was combined with the celebration of the 75th anniversary of Porsche. The text written by Tom Ford is very optimistic. There is also a video report:
Magnus Walker, who was a guest on The Smoking Tire Podcast, speaks in a different tone about this edition of the gathering, but more on that later in the text.
What is a Turbo?
The history of turbocharging dates back to 1905, when Alfred Büchi received a patent for his invention. The concept was to use the energy of the exhaust gases to drive a turbine, which accelerated the intake gases, thus allowing more air to enter the combustion chambers. I'm not an engineering wizard, and I often rely on YouTube materials. The principle of operation is well explained in the video below from Donut Media.
This is a proper Y2b channel for lovers of broadly understood automotive engineering. For me, it's a bit too loud and overstimulated, but I'm old, and I like silence. Keeping the attention of the young generation requires shouting, explosions and visual tricks, and this channel is excellent at this.
Podcast
In January 2023, a small exhibition featuring Magnus Walker's Porsche collection opened at the Petersen Automotive Museum. These included the first 911 Turbo ever sold in the USA, which is the only car not modified by Walker. Interestingly, all the displayed 911s, and there were ten of them, came to the museum on wheels. Magnus and his colleagues delivered everything in person, which very well characterizes his approach to cars. Here you will find a very interesting conversation between Matt Farrah and Magnus Walker:
Magnus didn't like the Rennsport Reunion because, as he emphasizes, combining a typical motorsport event with a birthday party didn't work out at all.
In this video, Magnus will show you around his garage and talk about, among other things, his five Turbos:
Retro
Porsche's first application of turbocharging took place in the racing paddock in the first half of the 1970s. After two seasons (1970 and 1971) of the 917K's dominance at LeMans, the FIA changed the regulations and reduced the maximum engine capacity to three litres. The engine in the Zuffenhausen prototype had a capacity of five (twelve horizontal cylinders) and still had enormous potential, but it had to find an alternative racing series. Already in 1969, Porsche constructed two 917PA (Porsche-Audi) prototypes compliant with Can-Am standards. The first one never took off, but it served as a test platform for the H16 engine (!). At that time, Bruce McLaren and his own racing team dominated, using seven-litre V8 Chevrolet engines (McLaren won all the wins, Bruce won the championship, Danny Hulme was runner-up) and the remedy was either to increase the number of cylinders or... turbocharging. The first solution resulted in an increase in the car's weight by 80 kg, the second turned out to be a bull's-eye. In the 1972 season, Porsche was already immersed in Can-Am (as a result of the new FIA regulations, which I wrote about earlier) and with the Penske Racing team won the title driving the 917/10 model. The following season, the craziest, final 917 appeared on the starting line - 917/30.
Bored to five and a half litres, with power ranging from 1,100 to 1,580 horses (depending on the supercharging settings), the 917 was one of the most powerful racing cars in history. Interestingly, the gearbox had only 4 gears, and in first gear the car accelerated to 160 km/h!
In this video, you can look under the hood and hear some interesting facts from the mouth of Porsche engineer Johannes Wuest, but you have to put up with the arrogant presenter (it's still worth it):
Daytona
The above-mentioned team belonged to Roger Penske, a true racing titan. The team, now called Team Penske, competes in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, FIA WEC and IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Last year, Porsche returned to the competition in the last two series (LMDh category) and hired Roger to lead its factory racing team (named Porsche Penske Motorsport). In the 2023 season, the Porsche 963 performed very poorly, giving way to the cars of Ferrari, Toyota, Cadillac, Glickenhaus and, for heavens sakes, Peugeot (all in the Hypercar category) in the most prestigious race of the season - LeMans 24h!
Yeah…
But such racing animals do not give up easily, and they promise that 2024 will be better. I hope so because the car is good-looking, and if it made as much fuss as the 917, we would have another automotive icon. While writing these words, another prestigious, 24-hour race starts - Daytona 24 Hours. Porsche Penske entered two cars, one each from Proton Competition and JDC-Miller MotorSports.
I'm very curious how BMW, debuting in the same category, will fare.
Inter Europol Competition by PR1 Mathiasen with Kuba Śmiechowski on board starts in LMP2. Fingers crossed!
Dakar
The Saudi dust after driving through the desert has already settled, and Carlos Saintz Senior won the drivers' classification for the fourth time. I am pleased with Hołowczyc's determined attitude (117th place in the general classification), but even more pleased with the result of the Proxcars TME Rally Team car, with Jacek Czachor (in the co-driver's seat) and Magdalena Zając (at the wheel) onboard. They placed 112th, and Mrs. Zając became the second Pole to finish the most difficult rally in the world
Four Polish teams made it to the finish line in the Dakar Classic: Toyota Team Classic (23rd position), Dext P-Rally (43rd and 54th position) and Coco Loco (69th position).
Featured story
Last week I published an article on our visit to the Oil and Gas Industry Museum in Bóbrka. Even though the car we tested, there was not turbocharged, but I still encourage you to read it. Of course, I also encourage you to visit the museum. Just in time for the holidays.
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Have a good one!