Hybrid Porsche leads 24 hour Nurburgring race

Hybrids are slow economical turds, right? Well, the Porsche GT3 R Hybrid is no turd. Leading the race until that last two hours, the hybrid Porsche proved to the world we can gain speed and performance by using green technology. The beauty behind this Porsche GT3 R is that it makes use of a technology that harnesses brake energy and converts it into electrical engine boost. Just like F1 car's using KERS (kinetic energy recovery system), the GT3 R makes use of this technology by combining an electrical front axle system with two 60KW electric motors with a regenerative flywheel instead of braking system.

How does it work? The flywheel as we know is constantly spinning at speeds up to 40,000 RPM. The Porsche GT3 R activates the flywheel electrical generation during braking, in that it's similar to KERS but not exact. Then when the driver wants to use this energy, the power stored from the flywheel is transferred to the 60KW motors on the axle for an instant boost up to 8 seconds long. Not only do these "e-boosts" help with lap times, they reduce weight and fuel consumption resulting in less pit stops and reduced vehicular wear.

In my opinion, all of this technology was designed, built, and intended for racing purpose to be later used in road cars. If it's proven on the track, it's worthy for the street. I believe this is the Porsche way, make a race car street legal and then sell it; not the other way around. Porsche is making moves into the hybrid world, as seen with the 918 Spyder concept. Just because it's green, doesn't mean it's slow; that is unless you're talking about a Turdslug (Tesla) Roadster past 100 mph. Ouch!

Video content: Hybrid leads race at 24 hour Nurburgring



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Source: Tampa Sports Car Examiner