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, April 30, 2011

VIDEO: Porsche lines up with an even more efficient 911 GT3 R Hybrid – Nürburgring

Porsche Hybrid GT3 R beim freien Training der VLN auf der Nordschleife 29.04.2011

Stuttgart. The development of the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid 2.0 is running at full revs.

This Saturday, April 30th, the further-developed version of the innovative Hybrid race car contests round two of the Nürburgring Long Distance Championship (VLN).

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Another test under race conditions is planned at the fourth VLN round on 28 May.

At the race debut of the modified version of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid on 30th April, Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany),


Comentario: Joerg Bergmeister/Porsche Hibrido.
Foto: AmigosRacing
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Marco Holzer (Germany)


Comentario: Marco Holzer – Johan Koning.
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and Patrick Long (USA) share driving duties in the orange and white ‘race lab’.


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At the second race meeting in late May, Holzer and Long join forces with Richard Lietz (Austria) to pilot the Hybrid-911.



24h Nürburgring, Nürburgring 24 hour race

Porsche takes up the Nürburgring 24 hour race on 25 June with a further developed version of the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid.

So, what’s been done with this latest Porsche 911 Hybrid race car?


Priority of the development was given to the improvement of efficiency through the targeted optimisation of hybrid components, which also resulted in a 20 percent weight reduction. Version 2.0 of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid is intended to achieve the same lap times as its predecessor but with less fuel consumption.

The general layout of the hybrid was adopted from the 2010 model. A portal axle with two electric motors drives the front wheels and supplements the four-litre, depending on the balance of performance classification approximately 470 hp, six-cylinder boxer engine at the rear. The output of both electric motors has increased from 60 to 75 kilowatts each. For seconds at a time, pilots now have almost an additional 200 hp at their disposal with the 911 GT3 R Hybrid 2.0.

Depending on the programming, this power is automatically activated through use of the throttle pedal. Moreover, pilots can manually call up this extra power, for instance when overtaking.

The electric flywheel accumulator, with its rotor spinning up to 40,000 rpm and stor-ing energy mechanically as rotational energy, is now housed with the other hybrid components in a carbon fibre safety cell on the passenger’s side.
At first glance, the new GT3 R Hybrid is clearly distinguishable from the 2010 model. Thanks to the optimisation of the hybrid system’s high voltage components, the large louvres in front of the rear fenders were no longer necessary. This reduces drag and also lowers fuel consumption. All in all, the weight of the vehicle decreased from 1,350 to 1,300 kilograms.

“We’ve collected a great deal of information from our races on the Nürburgring, at the ALMS race at Road Atlanta in the USA, as well as from the ILMC race on China’s Zhuhai circuit, which was an invaluable help for the further development of our racing laboratory,” says Hartmut Kristen, head of Porsche motorsport.

“The emphasis of our work was on improving efficiency. That means we want to keep the lap times consis-tent with 2010 but use less energy, hence less fuel. In this way, we support future developments of road-going, sporting hybrid vehicles.”

The cockpit of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid has also been completely revised. Most of the displays and controls have moved to the steering wheel. Drivers can operate the rest of the functions via backlit buttons now situated on the centre console.

Priority was placed on the ergonomics and the clear layout for pilots – particularly in darkness.


The new 911 GT3 R Hybrid is a perfect example of the ‘Porsche Intelligent Performance’ philosophy, a principle found in every Porsche: More power on less fuel, more efficiency and lower CO2 emissions – on the race track and on the road.

Source: Porsche

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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

More Porsche destinations will follow. Stay Tuned!




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