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Home | Green Cars News | Hybrids | Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid Finishes Third in Nurburgring

Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid Finishes Third in Nurburgring

12 April, 2010 11:05:00

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After finishing sixth in its debut two weeks ago, the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, which features two electric motors supplementing the combustion engine in the rear, finished third in the Nurburgring Long Distance Championship.

Works drivers Joerg Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler (both Germany) drove an entirely trouble free race in the new Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid. The hybrid vehicle impressed with outstanding efficiency and needed one less pit stop than most competitors.

"The hybrid system clearly helped us to save fuel. Moreover, it's a great feeling to have those extra 120 kW from the electric motors when you accelerate out of the corners," said Joerg Bergmeister.

The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, a model that made its auto show debut in Geneva earlier this year, has a 480 hp (353 kW) four-litre flat-six ‘boxer’ gasoline engine driving the rear wheels and two supplementary electric motors delivering 60 kW each to the front axle. The whole race was run without a hitch, and the Porsche came in third place after the trouble-free race.

The 911 GT3 R Hybrid uses a unique electro-mechanical flywheel energy storage system to power the pair of electric motors driving the front wheels.

Under braking, the front motors generate electricity that is used to spin up an integrated flywheel-motor-generator assembly. Spinning away at a dizzying 40,000 rpm, the flywheel can release the electrical energy on demand back to front motors. The system was developed by the Williams Formula One team and licensed to Porsche.

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