SO YOU FINALLY GOT THAT PORSCHE

When Spring arrives in the Bay Area, there's no better way to celebrate the fresh air but in a Porsche.
Consider this blog as a depository for awesome Porsche drives/tours in and around the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California.

Draw an imaginary line across the center of California. Anchor one end off the Monterey Area/Santa Cruz mountains, on the Pacific coast. Run the line east over the Coast Range, through the Central Valley, and over the Sierra Nevada mountains. Tether the other end of the line at the Nevada border, on the fringe of the Great Basin Desert.

"Backroads of Northern California" covers the incomparable natural beauty, the myths and the history of the Golden State on the northern side of that line, while "Backroads of Southern California" does the honors for the lower half, from the San Joaquin Valley to the border with Mexico.


TOURS are what they sound like - someone leads a bunch of Porschephiles hither-and-yon for the express purpose of having them follow onto great Porsche roads, go interesting places and generally have a wonderful time driving their cars.

"Email-a-Ride" - called short notice drive/tour

"Email-a-Ride

Saturday, July 31, 2010

"Legends of the Autobahn" – Monterey Week Event - Friday August 13th, 2010

Legends of the Autobahn – Monterey Week Event

Rancho Canada Golf Club located on Carmel Valley Road just East of Hwy1

 

Porsche 911

German car enthusiasts now have a place to call their own during Monterey Week 2010 with the addition of a new event, the Legends of the Autobahn: West Coast Summer Concours.

The BMW Car Club of America (BMW CCA), the Mercedes-Benz Club of America (MBCA), and the Porsche Club of America (PCA)—the largest German marque enthusiast organizations in the world—have joined together to co-sponsor this year’s premier German auto spectacular, to be held Friday, August 13, 2010 at Rancho Canada Golf Club in Carmel Valley, California.

The one-day “Legends” event aims to bring enthusiasts, owners and aficionados of distinctive German cars to view some of the finest German marques in the world. Last year’s “Legends of the Autobahn: West Coast Summer Concours,” sponsored exclusively by the BMW Car Club of America, drew an audience of over 1,000. With the additional participation of the Mercedes-Benz and Porsche Car Clubs, event organizers expect three-times the entertainment and crowd.

“The Mercedes-Benz Club of America is thrilled to be a co-sponsor of ‘Legends of the Autobahn’ this year. The sheer ‘buzz’ that ‘Legends’ generates is a testament to the enthusiasm people hold for their cars, their appreciation for all-family entertainment, and their love of the Carmel Valley community,” boasts Laura Simonds, MBCA National Treasurer and Event Coordinator.

New, experienced, and non-auto enthusiasts are encouraged to attend for the fun and fervor of the show. For those interested in entering the Concours, a $50 entry fee will apply. For those wishing to display their vehicle without judging, a $25 corral fee will apply. For everyone else there will be food, displays, and Club booths where guests can enjoy the cars, mingle, get educated and more.

To register, visit www.motorsportreg.com for more information. Registration deadline is August1. Location of the event is Rancho Canada Golf Club located on Carmel Valley Road just East of Hwy1.


[Source: Legends of the Autobahn; photo credit: Dennis Gray]

 

Related stories:

  1. New Monterey Week Event – La Dolce Vita Automobili at Black Horse
  2. La Dolce Vita Will Not Return to Monterey Week
  3. Legends of Motorsports All-Lotus Event

 

Posted via email from dedeporsche's posterous

Sunday, July 25, 2010

The Porsche Book by Frank M. Orel

Frank M. Orel was born in Stuttgart. He is one of Germany's top advertising photographers. Now he has published a 300 page book highlighting Porsche.. It is his fourth Porsche book and will be succeeded by a fifth limited edition which goes on sale in September. Orel has won a number of awards for his photos including a 2004 red dot award. He has been photographing Porsche for over 12 years.

Posted via email from dedeporsche's posterous

Thursday, July 22, 2010

American Le Mans Series announces the debut of the Porsche 911 GT3 R HYBRID in USA

ALMSOfficialVideos | July 22, 2010
The American Le Mans Series is proud to announce the debut the Porsche 911 GT3 R HYBRID that will race at Petit Le Mans this October. The media announcement was held at Rouge Tomate in New York City on July 21st, 2010. Watch the announcement and hear from ALMS President / CEO Scott Atherton, Porsche North America President / CEO Paul Ritchie, and Porsche Factory driver Patrick Long.

Posted via email from dedeporsche's posterous

American Le Mans Series announces the debut of the Porsche 911 GT3 R HYBRID in USA

ALMSOfficialVideos | July 22, 2010
The American Le Mans Series is proud to announce the debut the Porsche 911 GT3 R HYBRID that will race at Petit Le Mans this October. The media announcement was held at Rouge Tomate in New York City on July 21st, 2010. Watch the announcement and hear from ALMS President / CEO Scott Atherton, Porsche North America President / CEO Paul Ritchie, and Porsche Factory driver Patrick Long.

Posted via email from dedeporsche's posterous

Testing Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Race Car - Ask Porsche driver Patrick Long.

Ask driver Patrick Long, and he'll tell you he's "still pretty charged up (forgive the pun)" after returning to the States following two weeks of testing the car on the Lausitzring circuit outside Berlin.

We had a chance to chat with Long next to one of the world's only two 911 GT3 R Hybrid models,  incongruously parked outside a swanky restaurant in midtown Manhattan.

He was there to announce that the groundbreaking hybrid would make its first appearance in U.S. competition in the Petit Le Mans race, the last event of this year's American Le Mans Series, to be held October 3 at the Road Atlanta racetrack.

"It's an exciting platform," said the boyish-looking Long, whose normal ride in the series is a Porsche GT3 RSR which he drives for the Flying Lizard Motorsports team.

Compared to the RSR, he said, he could brake later into turns and accelerate earlier, knowing he had up to 160 horsepower available to power the front wheels for added thrust out of corners.

The R Hybrid provides that front-wheel power for 5 to 7 seconds after the driver initiates it via a small gold paddle behind the steering wheel.

A row of LEDs shows the driver its state of charge at any given point; once the driver triggers it, Hybrid Manager software determines how much torque can be delivered to the front wheels, based on speed, steering angle, cornering force, wheel slip, and a host of other sensor data.

 Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid in action

Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid in action

Enlarge Photo

That power is generated by energy stored in the form of a flywheel rotating at high speed inside in the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, or KERS.

The drum-shaped unit sits on the passenger-side floor of the racer, along with its power electronics, orange high-voltage cables, and pipes carrying an oil-based coolant to and from side radiators behind vents just behind the doors.

When the driver asks for power, a clutch connects the flywheel to a motor-generator that flows power through cables to a pair of electric motors below the front axle, each connected through a reduction gear to a front wheel.

The system adds about 140 pounds on the front axle, roughly 100 pounds for the flywheel-generator package, and another 60 pounds for power electronics, cooling systems, and cables. To offset this, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid replaces the RSR's steel roof with one made from magnesium.

That the system works as well, and as powerfully, as it does is "a testament to the guys at Weissach," Long said. But like many, he was a skeptic at first. "I saw it as a project" or a technology test, he admitted, "until I got in, and saw how refined it was."

That was when "I knew we were onto something," said a grinning Long. "I just kept asking myself, why hasn't Bergmeister been talking more about this? It's amazing."

The results of improving the 911's efficiency by recapturing wasted brake energy? The standard 911 GT3 RSR can do 10 laps of the Nurburgring circuit on a tank of gas; the hybrid saves enough fuel to do an entire extra lap before having to pit.

And in endurance racing, a 10 percent improvement in fuel efficiency can win you races just through time saved. Just ask the Le Mans victims of the Peugeot and Audi diesel endurance racers.

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2010/07/22/testing-worlds-fastest-hybrid/

Posted via email from dedeporsche's posterous

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

PORSCHE 911 GT3 R HYBRID TO MAKE NORTH AMERICAN DEBUT AT PETIT LE MANS!

NEW YORK CITY (July 21, 2010) – The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón took another monumental step toward enhancing its position as the Global Leader of Green Racing with today's announcement that Porsche's innovative 911 GT3 R Hybrid race car will race for the first time in North America at the Series signature event – Petit Le Mans on October 2 at Road Atlanta.



 
After debuting in April at Germany's world-renowned Nürburgring race circuit in a six-hour event, the Porsche Hybrid challenged the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in May. It earned worldwide acclaim with its performance that had it leading many hours of the race – at times by a significant margin – until the closing two hours when a combustion engine issue forced the car to retire.
"After the 911 GT3 R Hybrid's fantastic performance at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, we are now eager to gain more experience with the hybrid technology on a variety of race tracks," says Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport. "At the same time, we would like to show fans and customers in our most important market how our 'race lab' performs under racing conditions," adds Kristen.
The Porsche Hybrid will take its place on a worldwide stage at Petit Le Mans, which not only is the Series' cornerstone event but one of the most important endurance races in the world. This year, for the first time, it will hold the distinction of being the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup's sole North American stop. The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, announced by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest a year ago, will decide an international champion based on results from three Le Mans-based series on three different continents – Europe, North America and Asia.
"This is an outstanding opportunity to demonstrate the advances in automotive technologies and energy efficiencies that you won't see in any other motorsports environment in the world," said American Le Mans Series President and CEO Scott Atherton. "Porsche has always led by example throughout its motorsports history – transferring what they learn on the race track to their production cars. And I believe this becomes the modern-day benchmark of how a manufacturer uses the American Le Mans Series' platform to develop and showcase new technology that is destined for road-car application. This car truly offers a glimpse into the future of high-performance road car technology."
The distinctive aspect of Porsche's hybrid technology features an electric flywheel power generator located in the cockpit beside the driver that has the advantage of storing and delivering high amounts of energy very quickly. The combination of the combustion engine and electric motor fulfils a simple objective – using less fuel without compromising performance. When overtaking or accelerating, the driver can engage the system by pressing the boost paddle on the steering wheel to send energy from the charged generator.
Because the ACO (sanctioning body for Le Mans racing) has not yet created rules for hybrid technology in production-based cars, the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid will race unclassified at Petit Le Mans.
Petit Le MansThe American Le Mans Series has achieved the distinction of being the Global Leading of Green Racing by providing a platform that encourages manufacturers to showcase leading-edge, relevant technologies and requiring all vehicles that compete in the world's leading sports car series to utilize an alternative fuel or energy source. At Petit Le Mans, five different types of alternative energy sources will be raced: clean diesel, E10, cellulosic E85, isobutanol and electric hybrid.
The U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with SAE International, have cited the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón as the only motorsport series to meet its green protocols. In recognition of that achievement, the groups have created a Green Challenge™ award to a prototype and GT (Grand Touring) manufacturer at season's end. Michelin, meanwhile, has extended the award – the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge Award – to teams on a race-by-race basis. The award goes to the teams that demonstrate not only the best overall performance but also the most efficient use of fuel and least amount of carbon emissions.
Porsche won the inaugural Green Challenge at Petit Le Mans in 2008 with a Porsche RS Spyder that featured direct fuel injection. In 2009, Porsche and Flying Lizard Motorsports won the event at Petit Le Mans behind an E85-powered Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Porsche and Flying Lizard also claimed the season-long GT manufacturer and team championships, respectively.

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For Vistors to Northern California
Northern California Road Trip - Muir Woods, Redwood, Lassen and more!
Northern California Visitor Information

Start and end in San Francisco. Mileage does not include sightseeing. Take a journey that explores National Parks, Monuments, National Seashores and more! This road trip also includes Lake Tahoe and a beautiful drive along the coast. You may want to extend the time to visit the numerous state parks and tourist areas.

Approximate Mileage/Time: 1300 miles, 12 days

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