New Porsche prototype (merged threads)

[Tim Northcutt]

I wonder what "breed" of mule is running around with a 3.0 - 3.4 L Honda V-8 in the back of it???

Or maybe a Honda 2.0 L block with a Turbo???

I'd speculate on the former as opposed to the latter, but who knows???

Should be interesting

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

I wonder what "breed" of mule is running around with a 3.0 - 3.4 L Honda V-8 in the back of it???

Or maybe a Honda 2.0 L block with a Turbo???

I'd speculate on the former as opposed to the latter, but who knows???

Should be interesting

Don't the IRL cars run 3.5 litre engines? Surely it's likely to be a 3.4 litre derivative of that..........?

[Tim Northcutt]

They run 3.0 L. engines now, but all they did was shorten the stroke and make some valve train and mapping changes to the 3.5 L engines that they were running until the 2004 Indy 500....

BTW...the Menard engine that will apparently be in the Zulltec LMP2 is based on the old Infiniti 3.5 L. IRL engine that competed up until 2003 and is now in the Infiniti Pro Series feeder system cars for the IRL

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

They run 3.0 L. engines now, but all they did was shorten the stroke and make some valve train and mapping changes to the 3.5 L engines that they were running until the 2004 Indy 500....

BTW...the Menard engine that will apparently be in the Zulltec LMP2 is based on the old Infiniti 3.5 L. IRL engine that competed up until 2003 and is now in the Infiniti Pro Series feeder system cars for the IRL

Which team will use the Zulltec?

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Which team will use the Zulltec?

To be honest, I don't remember any announcement of a team when they introduced the car in June....

I assumed it would be some sort of factory effort, because I recall that they were going to compete in the 2006 LMS Season...

I'll look it up...

[FIRE]

If I remember well Luc Alphand (the current leader of the Dakar rally) was linked to the car in June, but after that I'v heard nothing about the car (except that they use the Menards engine) or interested teams.

[Tim Northcutt]

On Mulsanne Mike's site, the car was supposed to be ready for on-track testing last autumn....but like you, FIRE, I haven't read anything more about it, wither

[FIRE]

I remember again:
Luc Alphand has bought a Corvette C5R, so I don't expect him in a proto.

I am afraid the Zulltec project ends in a silence dead.

[Tim Northcutt]

I hope not....but racing teams are rather reluctant to purchase a new chassis from a new builder until they can see what it can do...

It is a "chicken or egg" type of quandry, IMO....

Rollcentre stepped up to buy two Radicals because of the principals involved in the project....but in recent stories I've read on sites like DSC, others have not stepped forward yet, because they want to see how well the car will run for Rollcentre first...

IIRC, Radical was going to sell the first four roller chasis for a very low price - something like $310,000 USD each.

Rollcentre bought two...

Tim Greaves bought one....

Thus one is left at that price...

Personally, I think someone is missing out on a great deal on a new prototype that should be very competitive...

[jhansen]

But you can't blame a team for being a bit skeptical about a new car can you Tim? Especially a prototype. Radical have the benefit of having some skilled people that have been around so to speak. So there is some reason to be confident there.

But Zultec, seems to be a shot in the dark.

[Tim Northcutt]

I don't blame them, jhansen....not at all....

I would think that a builder like Zulltec, however, would at least spend some $$$ for some track time and a test driver or two that would give the car a run through its paces to suggest changes, set-ups, and othr items that they would need to know before giving a potential customer a spin...

Hell...if you're spending the kind of money they spent to develop it, why not hire those test guys as your own pilots and run some limited events???

If no one will buy it until they see it perform because it is an unknown commodity, then figure out how to get someone to see it...

Run in the LMS Test Days that will be coming up in Late March with a couple of pilots who are experienced tire test drivers for those manufacturers...guys who know what a car can do and should do that can give you some feedback.

They have invested plenty just to build the thing...and it is apparently built...according to the pictures on Mike's site...what would a few thousand more bucks be to get the car out in front of potential teams or drivers???

[ss_collins]

Regarding the Panoz Porsche funding thing that seems to have stirred it up in the states a bit, Panoz have told us in very definate terms that it is not true, however see what was actually said in the mag in two weeks time give or take. Do we think there is any truth in it? well we are not commenting but we do make it very clear that all parties vigorously deny it. Suffice to say theres more than just talk about who paid for it in the article. It is not the article that appears on the foxsports website at all, but it is the first tech look at the RS Spyder that we know of. Jonathan has as usual done a good job, and a few tidbit I gained on research trips into Germany late last year

[gwyllion]

According to Murphy the Bear's blog Porsche is hesitating to sell the RS Spyder to privateers next year because of the ongoing reliability issues. So possibly no other privateer LMP2 Porsches next year

As long as we’re on the subject of DNFs, not only were those reliability issues clearly a motivation to re-shuffle the Penske driver line-up, they may have played a role in Porsche’s hesitancy to put a price tag on the Spyders. Murphy hears that you shouldn’t expect to see any privateers on racing grids in 2007. There is a possibility that a privateer may appear after Le Mans, but that seems remote. Meanwhile, the Penske program will continue in the coming season.

source: http://murphythebear.com/blog/2006/0...evere-in-2007/

[Truckosaurus]

Oooh, I didn't realise Murphy had his own site these days.

[gwyllion]

Murphy the Bear reiterates what he has said earlier: no privateers in the beginning of next season. It is still unclear if Porsche/Penske will go to Le Mans with the RS Spyder.

Some out there read it and thought the Bear said that customers were hesitating because of reliability questions. He didn’t. He still thinks Porsche just might want to work the car in Penske’s hands a bit longer before turning it loose, though. It still won’t surprise us if the first of the privateers doesn’t show until after Le Mans. Does that mean that Penske – or someone – will contest Le Mans with a Porsche RS Spyder? Not necessarily. Elsewhere in the paddock at Mosport, it was offered that an extension of Penske deal makes sense if for no other reason that it would take a team moving from GT2 a season or so to come to grips with the prototype, and meantime, there are Acuras to fend off.

source: http://murphythebear.com/blog/2006/0...ra-of-courages

[isynge]

Reading Murphy's latest I'm convinced he's got a good line from someone on this. He's impressively sticking to his guns either way.

The crux of the matter is, however, whether this particular line is the right one. I for one hope Murphy's wrong.