Yes, That Is The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid In An NYC Parking Garage
We're not going to tell you how it got there. We're not even going to tell you why it wasn't on the New York Auto Show floor. But we will tell you about the awesome techno-marvel that is its flywheel.
What's the awesome? This is the awesome:
That, cats and kittens, is the car's cockpit-mounted flywheel. Porsche calls it an "electrical flywheel power generator." It is a 40,000-rpm electric motor and generator that serves as the core of the GT3 R H's "push to pass" system. One electric motor lives at each front wheel; these motors act as generators under braking, charging the flywheel unit whenever the driver applies the brakes. (Yes, we said that a flywheel gets charged with something. Ignore the fuzzy terminology and go with it.) The driver can then direct the power generated — up to 120 kilowatts, or 60 kilowatts per front motor — to the front wheels at will.
As we noted earlier, Porsche claims that the project's focus is
"...not on the 911 GT3 R Hybrid winning the race, but rather spearheading technology as a 'racing lab.' The intent is to provide hands-on know-how for the subsequent use of hybrid technology in road-going sports cars."
We were initially skeptical, but frankly, it's hard to not get geeky over something like this. Seeing it in person just sets off internal alarms: Big technogoofy cockpit thing! Lots of heavy-gauge wire! Kind of looks like a flux capacitor! IT'S THE LIBYANS! STUTTGARTERS! WOO!
Ahem. But yeah, we found it in a New York parking garage. And yes, that is a Corvette Grand Sport sitting next to it. Cool, eh?
Send an email to Sam Smith, the author of this post, at sam@jalopnik.com.
After seeing this article, I saw the ad above, which led to another few shots of the Porsche ([www.porsche.com])...
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