254 mph "911"

[nameisbauer]

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/supercars/9ff-gt9-supercar-reaches-409kmh-top-speed/




Check the sweet rear hubcaps.

[dzls rok]

i was just thinking the rear wheel is photo shopped. then i realized it's some kind of aero cover.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Yet there still appears to be a decidedly non-aerodynamic gap between the cover thingy and the fender. What the heck is up with that?

[Zeke]

Is that the best they can do with the decals?

Or is it just a bunch of cut and paste?

[URY914]

Not the same but close:

[nameisbauer]

Is it just me or does the 9ff look like a remote control car?

Yes Milt, the decals look bad, maybe its adding to the RC thing. Carglass looks crooked!

[Lukesportsman]

Even though I think its a good thing for Porsche's image and the 911 for that matter to be pushing the outer boundaries, I wonder what P proper thinks. From the first time I read about this car last year, I started wondering if Porsche will have an issue with 9ff building a "super car" in such resemblence to their precious 911. I guess since 9ff is buying many of their parts like the turbo trans, the engine cases and the like from them they have a $$ incentive to let it go. Seems like though in limited numbers, these could infringe on Porsche's next high priced flag ship....then again they are in the business of sedans and SUV's now arent' they. OUCH.

[EarlyPorsche]

That looks amazing. Good work.

[pwd72s]

Gee, yeah! I NEED a car capable of that speed in order to drive to the market! (Apologies to Bill Cosby AND Shelby!)

[dtw]

Oh. So you needed your '72 for 30+ years then? LOL.

[EarlyPorsche]

pwd - why not take it on the track?

[euro911sc]

Its a great looking car untill you look at the splitter and rear valence (?)... they look like they are made of plywood or press board and rattle can flat blacked... add to that the afore mentioned graphic mis-alignment and the phony looking wheel cover (why not the front too???) and we begin to wonder... was the car just not 'done' before the photo shoot?

-michael

[Lukesportsman]

To address the above.

Yes the car was literally finished the AM of the first photo shoot. It was cut to the last minute to make the magazine outing.

Yes sir, there is just that in there! Plywood was used due to its weight to strength ratio and he was unable to beat mother nature. Ask any engineer and its hard to beat wood for weight to strength ratio, or for that matter call Morgan Saying that, I don't want a half million 250mph car with a wood floor. Give it 10 more horsepower and install a CF/Al honeycome floor.....it just seems more appropriate.

[Canada Kev]

Although this is likely just an engineering exercise, it certainly says something for the application flexibility and strength of wood:


The world's first wooden supercar has been unveiled - and it's faster than a Porsche or a Lamborghini.

The 'Splinter' car can turn out a whopping 700bhp from its twin supercharged, 4.6litre V8 engine - almost 300bhp more than a Porsche 911. And with a top speed of a staggering 240mph, it will leave the Porsche or even the brand new Lamborghini Revanton trailing in its wake.

The entire car, which is made from a combination of maple, plywood and MDF, weighs just 1,134kg - some 240kg less than the super lightweight Porsche.

The eco-friendly two seater, which is fitted with a six-speed, manual gearbox, can sprint from 0 to 60mph in just over three seconds.

But despite its awesome power, designers say the stylish petrol driven car will still be able to do up to 20mpg.

Designer Joe Harmon, who is head of the project, said: "Wood is a truly amazing material to work with.

"It has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than aluminium or steel, and it possesses a versatility that makes many different types of construction techniques possible.
"The look, feel, and smell of a natural material like wood is not seen elsewhere and cannot be faked, and the satisfaction involved in making something from a piece of wood is awesome.

"This is a supercar designed to push boundaries and prove the potential of wood as a material."

The 15ft-long car has a laminated wood veneer chassis and wooden wheel rims inside giant 20 inch diameter tyres.

Suspension is provided through laminated wooden arms and springs made from orange wood.

Joe, from North Carolina, US, added: "The light weight is achieved through careful design and composite construction.

"The Splinter is not made from any carved-out, solid chunks of wood, but rather moulded laminates."

The car is due to hit the road later this year. The design company, Joe Harmon Design, has not yet decided on a price for the supercar.

And according to 27-year-old Joe, it might not be long before Formula One star Lewis Hamilton is behind the wheel of a wooden car.

He said: "An F1 car could definitely be made from wood.

"Some extremely creative engineering would have to go into it to overcome the strength-to-weight and mouldability benefits of carbon fibre, but it's definitely possible.
"Getting permission to race it would probably be a bigger challenge than engineering it. But it would be fun to try."

Drivers are kept safe by a roll cage which also stiffens the chassis and defines the rear profile of the car.





-kevin

[stevemfr]

Originally Posted by euro911sc

and we begin to wonder... was the car just not 'done' before the photo shoot?

-michael

Actually, in a magazine article I read, the car was sporting these wheels for the record run:


But an Continental Tires ad a page later had the car with the white wheels shown above - on all 4 corners, tho.

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by Lukesportsman

Even though I think its a good thing for Porsche's image and the 911 for that matter to be pushing the outer boundaries, I wonder what P proper thinks. From the first time I read about this car last year, I started wondering if Porsche will have an issue with 9ff building a "super car" in such resemblence to their precious 911. I guess since 9ff is buying many of their parts like the turbo trans, the engine cases and the like from them they have a $$ incentive to let it go. Seems like though in limited numbers, these could infringe on Porsche's next high priced flag ship....then again they are in the business of sedans and SUV's now arent' they. OUCH.

Interesting question. Unless it's actually built on a 911 chassis with a 911 VIN, then I think Porsche might have some serious problems with it. You can't just buy a bunch of parts and create a car that looks like a 911 and sell it.

-Wayne

[raceman]

[QUOTE= You can't just buy a bunch of parts and create a car that looks like a 911 and sell it.

-Wayne[/QUOTE]

Porsche AG has zero problems with tuning firms like Gemballa , 9FF , RUF , ETC , selling essentially "one-off" supercars. When cars like the 9FF car break records and make international news it is win/win for Porsche and if fact they occasionally benefit from the private firms R&D investments that make these records possible. Porsche is the largest independently owned car company in the world , devoted small scale tuners are a welcome reality.

[stevemfr]

Originally Posted by raceman

Porsche AG has zero problems with tuning firms like Gemballa , 9FF , RUF , ETC , selling essentially "one-off" supercars.

Actually that's not quite true.

First off, what Wayne was saying is that you can't build a Porsche knock-off and bring it to market w/o angering the factory. The short lived Covin 911 replica based on a bug chassis is a prime example. While RUF is a licensed automobile manufacturer in Germany and sells Porsche based cars with his own VIN's and branded as RUF's, this is a unique situation based on specific historical events/decisions. I know for a fact that all is not hunky-dory between Ruf and the Porsche factory at this point. I'm just speculating, but I can't imagine Porsche allowing other tuners to do anything similar.

The German TüV has very specific regulations on how much of a vehicle can be changed before it can no longer be registered on its original VIN/specs. For instance, it's not possible to build a 550 spyder replica or a 356 replica on an older bug chassis and register it as an older bug (and avoiding emissions/noise regulations). For this reason, the spyder/356 replicas on the market here today are almost all water cooled . If I remember correctly, any major chassis modifications such as shortening disqualify the vehicle from its previous registration. On the other hand, the TüV is not a government organization and is split into relatively autonomous bodies in each German state - so modifications not allowed in Bavaria, for instance, could be OK in Lower-Saxony (sort of like the individual states in the U.S.) So is the car a Porsche? I couldn't find anything specific on a quick google, but I've read that the 9ff GT9 has a tube-framed chassis with a (996?) GT-3 front end. From my experience with the TüV in southern Germany, I'd say no. But 9ff is in northern Germany...

As for Porsche loving aftermarket tuners... it's not that simple. While it is obviously in Porsche's best interest to create a strong following of the marque and having customers 'involved' with their cars - be it through track days, tuning, shine 'n show meets, etc. - is a good thing, getting too closely involved with tuners also has its drawbacks for the factory. The tuning industry directly reduce Porsche's service/parts business because people take their cars to what amount to indy shops vs. dealership service centers. Also, getting involved too closely with tuners has its risks: imagine a Porsche sponsored 9ff going off the track at 400kph and killing several people. Also, while it is good press for a Porsche to be the fastest road-going car in the world, it's not necessarily good press for Porsche supercars such as the CGT to be upstaged by a small, couple of 10 people company.

In my experience, the relationship between Porsche and the aftermarket varies greatly based on the who and the how of factory involvement - as well as the present corporate culture w/in Porsche .

[ALXinNZ]

It is all explained in the latest 911 & Porsche World magazine!!

Including company direction and plan for sales of the car.

And no wheel covers to be seen anywhere.

[911teo]

still by far the most interesting article on the last issue of 911 & PW is a page 78, wouldn't you agree?

Anyway I was under the impression that this is still a 911, no?