Good article on Porsche's new 3.4 V8 race engine

[GIBSON]

I don't think this has been posted before,if is has, my apologies.
Good article.

Will Porsche go beyond the ALMS?
2005-04-27 ALMS LEMANS BUSINESS
Bill Oursler


When Porsche announced that it would not only build its first prototype
of the 21st century, but had hired Roger Penske to oversee and run it,
many within the racing community asked the same question that once was
asked by the great singer Peggy Lee: "Is that all there is?"


In fact, the press release issued by the German manufacturer revealing
its new LM Prototype category 2 spyder for the American Le Mans Series
left more questions unanswered than it answered. While most companies
would have at least held a press conference in similar circumstances,
Porsche almost seemed to want to hide the fact that it had gone back
into the prototype business after an absence stretching back to its last
Le Mans 24-Hour triumph in 1998 with its carbon fiber chassis 911GT1
LM98 coupe.


Throughout the winter and into the early spring rumors had been
circulating that the Zuffenhausen-based firm would build a LMP2 spyder.
The natural follow-on rumor was of a more potent LMP1 version to compete
against the reported 2006 diesel entries from both Audi and Peugeot,
which are expected to battle it out at the Sarthe a year from now. What
was a shock was Penske Racing's role in the mix.


Indeed, there were many within the Porsche universe itself, as well as
those connected to Penske, who did not know of the agreement between the
two until it was made public just prior to the ALMS Road Atlanta
weekend. So tightlipped has Porsche been about the project that sources
have said the company only announced it when it did because it wanted to
contain the rumors and regain some control over the information making
it to the public forum.


That fact was clearly evident in that Porsche only said the LMP2 entry
was a 2006 effort on behalf of the North American market, declining to
reveal further specifics such as the engine to be used, the drivers and
the location where the program will be based. Since Road Atlanta, it has
become known that the effort, after a brief initial stay at Penske's
Reading, PA, Indy Car shops, will move to Penske South in Moorseville,
NC, where Penske's NASCAR operations are housed in a splendid new
facility.


In addition, it has been learned that the first car will arrive in June
for testing in preparation for an expected debut at Road Atlanta in
September for the ALMS' signature Petit Le Mans. The drivers for this
effort are expected to be former Porsche ALMS GT class titlists Sascha
Maassen and Lucas Luhr. Still, perhaps the most important revelation is
the configuration of its engine, which will be a purpose-built 3.4-liter
V8 that has been two years in the making.


And why is that important?


Two reasons. First, ever since it quit racing as a factory after the
1998 season, Porsche's top management has made little secret of the fact
that it believes motorsport to be "a black hole" in terms of the
financial investment needed to support it. Only because it can sell
between 200 and 300 units a year has the factory supported the
customer-driven 911 GT3 coupes upon which have rested its recent
competition fortunes. Given the fact that for LMP2 it would have been
more than adequate and far less expensive to utilize a destroked version
of the 4.5-liter V8 currently used in its Cayenne SUV, one must ask why
the approval to spend money on a new "for-racing-only" unit to do the
same job.


Second, and more to the point, "Why Penske?" The Captain historically
has not involved himself in "Second Cabin" projects, which the Porsche
LMP2 most definitely is. So now comes the Peggy Lee part. What is it
that has brought both Porsche and Penske to this point? What more can we
expect?


One obvious possibility is the development of a LMP1 spyder. Clearly
that would be an attractive proposition for Penske who has only once
seriously attacked Le Mans, and who many think is a road racer at heart.
If Penske were to win at the Sarthe it would mean that he has won not
only in Formula One, Indianapolis and NASCAR, but also the most
important event on the sportscar calendar. Still, there are no
guarantees that Porsche, even though the bulk of the engineering for a
LMP1 spyder exists in the LMP2 car, will actually commit to such a
project. In fact, insiders have said that the company most likely will
eschew entering the premier prototype division of the Sarthe and the
ALMS in the near future, preferring to sell customer versions of its
LMP2 entry instead in 2007.


Thus, if the LMP1 avenue is closed to Penske, what's left? The answer is
intriguing, for about the only place left is the IRL, which in 2007 is
expected to change its engine regulations, or at least implement a new
version of its current powerplant rules. Further, there are strong
suggestions that Toyota, which presently supplies Penske with his IRL
V8s, may quit Tony George's single-seat series for a full-time NASCAR
Nextel Cup effort. Moreover, even though some insiders have said that
George and the IRL are considering including NASCAR-type stock blocks in
the new '07 scriptures, most believe that there will still be a place
for 3.0-liter non-turbo V8s now in use.


If that happens, it is not a far leap in logic to think that the
3.4-liter LMP2 Porsche V8 could well undergo a transformation into an
IRL contender, giving Porsche the best shot it has ever had of winning
North America's most prestigious motorsports race.


Will that become reality? Could it become reality? The answer to the
second question is a definite yes. The answer to the first is a definite
maybe. In the meantime, we all will be waiting for the response to Ms.
Lee's plaintive inquiry.