Autoblog

One of the ways that Porsche became the most profitable automaker in the world is by learning how to offer customers a wide range of customization options for their cars... for a premium prices. The latest in its line of performance-oriented parts is a new wheel available for the 911 Turbo. The new 19" forged aluminum roller has a design based on the RS Spyder LMP2 race car. Porsche has apparently devised a new center locking mechanism that uses a bolt rather than a locking nut. The wheels are certainly attractive, but they won't come cheap. Starting in January, European 911 Turbo owners will be able to get the new wheels from a price starting at €2,950 ($3,700). There's no word on whether Americans will be offered these wheels officially, but there's no doubt that anyone willing to drop enough coin at the counter at their local Porsche store will be able to get them somehow.


[Source: Porsche]

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Porsche has already introduced direct injection on the Cayenne and 911 Carrera, and the Turbo, GT2 and GT3 all stand to benefit from the technology next year. While it's normal for most automakers to take the lessons learned from motorsports and apply them to their road cars, Porsche is doing it the other way around.

The 3.4-liter V8 in the Porsche RS Spyder campaigning in the ALMS LMP2 class will be fitted with direct injection, bringing power levels up while reducing fuel consumption. While the old mill put out 476 hp at 10,000 RPM and 273 lb.-ft. of torque beginning at 7,500 RPM, the new engine gets a 27 hp bump, to bring levels up to 503 hp at 10k RPM and 284 lb.-ft. of twist at 8,500 rpm. That, combined with the decreased in fuel consumption should make the Spyder even more competitive in a class it's continuing to dominate.

Full details are posted in the press release below the fold.

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We've all watched the ALMS Porsche RS Spyder in racing, read the reviews about Porsche's track-ready 997 GT3 RS, and checked out the new Boxster RS 60 Spyder. Maybe some of us (Porschephiles?) have even dreamed about someday owning a classic 1973 911 Carrera RS (pictured above). Porsche's "RS" designation stands for "Renn Sport," or racing, and it is reserved for the highest performing models in the company's lineup.

Wait a second. Doesn't Audi also offer a slew of "RS" models too? They have their hot RS4, RS6, and the lightweight RS8. Now they have plans to bring out a high-performance version of the TT to be called the TT RS...

Not so fast, the team at Porsche is saying. Naming it the "TT RS" is stepping over that thin line drawn in the sand. Furthermore, the "RS" suffix is Porsche's, and it won't be slapped on an Audi anytime soon (especially as Porsche continues to increase its ownership in the Volkswagen Group). Audi may continue to use "RS" as a prefix, but that's about it. Well, that was easy, don't you think?

[Source: Winding Road]

Porsche is finally set to race the RS Spyder in Europe. Making its debut next season in Europe's Le Mans Series, this LMP2 dominator will be further restricted to help it stay behind the P1 cars. While P1 was intended to be for factory teams with professional drivers, and P2 was envisioned as a class for customer cars and amateur pilots, the Porsche P2 team has been more like a P1 effort in ALMS races.

In order to keep things closer to the ideal, the Dutch Equipe Verschuur team will only use one professional driver in 2008. Well, at Le Mans they will use two pros, but for the rest of the season they have entered a "gentleman's agreement" to run only one. Additionally, the LMP2 cars, including the Verschuur Porsche, will also have their minimum weight raised by 50kg to 825kg. Similar restrictions in ALMS racing haven't had the desired effect, but this should help them stay off the top step. Or, you know, not.

[Source: Autoweek]

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The "1" in "LMP1" is supposed to signify that this is the top class in the ALMS. But for a good stretch of this season, the top of the podium has featured LMP2 cars, instead. For Audi, long the top P1 team, it is particularly troublesome that German rival Porsche is the team ahead of them during this P1 slump. And as they head to Road America for the next round of the series, they are saying "enough is enough." Audi is telling anyone who will listen that the Porsches are going down. If that sounds cocky, it shouldn't. Audi should be confident here as they've never lost a race at this familiar course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The fast track should allow that big diesel to run free and show off all of its torque once again.

Since an LMP2 car has outright won the last five races in a row, the governing body of the ALMS has decided to slow the class down for the 2008 season by adding mandatory weight to each car. Now, if that sounds like the ALMS is helping Audi win, it is. But the rules should favor the LMP1 class to win, and five losses in a row for the class means something is amiss, so a little tweaking is understandable.

Full press release with weekend schedule after the jump.

[Source: Audi Motorsport]

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Considering SPEED's Bob Varsha was on hand to emcee the event, the Porsche presentation was a slight letdown. Surrounded by two Porsche racers fresh from the Rolex 24 at Daytona, center stage was reserved for a car that's already known to ALMS followers. Bob Carlson, Porsche's Manager of Automotive & Motorsport Press, along with Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport, unveiled the freshened 2007 RS Spyder in Chicago today.

After a successful 2006 debut season in LMP2, the new version of the sports endurance racer promises to build on that success with refined bodywork that should even more expertly handle airflow. Kristen added that the car is basically the same in all the areas you can't see, and completely new in what you CAN see. When asked about plans to move up to LMP1, Kristen mentioned that the whole idea behind Porsche's success in racing is that the cars are accessible to customers. In some cases the race versions are even built alongside the street cars. And with that in mind, P1 would be too much of a jump for most customers so Porsche will hold off for the foreseeable future. Talking to Bob Carlson after the presentation, he said no new models are about to be announced anytime soon, but said that the new Panamera is expected to account for as much as 40% of overall sales. He also mentioned that the 911 reclaimed Porsche's sales crown last year after being bumped by the Cayenne the year before. Full release about the new RS, and the Targa and updated Cayenne we've already seen, after the jump.

[Source: Porsche]

Dyson Racing is moving to the LMP2 class for 2007's American Le Mans Series season, and they'll do so in style as they become the first customer team to run Porsche's RS Spyder racing prototype. You'll recall that Porsche's official development partner, Penske Racing, ran a pair of the DHL-liveried Spyders for the 2006 season.

The cars Rob Dyson's team will run are the new 2007 models, which are more aerodynamic (and dare we say better looking) than last year's 1st gen cars. They will be identical to the cars Penske runs, and they are sure to add even more juice to a very energized LMP2 class that's also welcoming Acura into the fold next year. In fact, LMP2 appears to be the class to watch, as Dyson's departure from the LMP1 class leaves reigning champion Audi Sport and Autocon Motorsport alone to duke it out for the P1 crown. (Danbury, CT-based Highcroft racing left P1 as well and is one of the teams that will field the new Acura racer.)

When you consider that the R10 TDIs went undefeated in P1 last season, it doesn't look like that division will be a source of much drama. Most people will wait for the utter steel cage match that will be Audi vs. Peugeot in a diesel-fueled France vs. Germany duel at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

It should be great fun to watch Chris Dyson and Guy Smith in the #20 car and Butch Leitzinger and Andy Wallace in the #16 car as they do battle in in what has become a substantial LMP2 team roster. The 12 Hours of Sebring can't arrive soon enough.

(Press releases, #20 car livery after the jump)

[Sources: Dyson Racing, American Le Mans Series, Porsche]