at least in case of EQS we thought maybe they don’t want to sell those cars - that they just want to say we have an EV that has record range etc. and then just sell the regular S class because that’s how they make money …
but Lucid also went after Aerodynamic records over style and unlike Mercedes they don’t have anything else to sell …
basically the obsession with range got out of control and in retrospect it was misguided because it’s not about range - it’s about charging speed and charging network …
again, all these things just go to show it’s still too early to get EV. the industry is still figuring things out.
so both engine and fuel tank are in worst possible locations plus rear seats are useless - this is arguably the worst designed car on the market
yet the best executed
i was watching Cayman GT4 RS video yesterday and they said that unlike 911 GT3 it doesn’t have an electronic limited slip differential but a more primitive mechanical one and also the same engine makes 10 hp less in GT4 than GT3 …
why do you think that is ?
well it’s not rocket science - the 911 is such a bad design it can only survive with Porsche throwing the best tech at it while not allowing other cars like Cayman to use the same tech …
it’s tragic, really …
the upcoming electric 718 may be a game changer though because Porsche may allow it to do what it never allowed the gas 718 to do, namely to beat the 911 …
and this is for one reason and one reason only - the 911 will be the ONLY Porsche that stays ICE while every other model goes EV so 718 may get repositioned from a lower cost, lower performance alternative to 911 to an Electric alternative to 911
in other words 718 EV to 911 will be what Taycan is to Panamera … so it will actually be about the same price, slightly faster and slightly smaller, and with less premium interior to compensate for higher cost of batteries …
from what the test driver said it sounds like the car will keep the turbos but use the electric motor to reduce turbo lag, same as how it is in the Panamera.
from reading Panamera forums it is a universal consensus that the Hybrid Panameras have the least turbo lag and the main reason to get the Hybrid is if you hate Turbo lag
interestingly nothing in the video was said about efficiency, which also lines up with the Panamera well because Hybrid Panamera is still inefficient … yet highly regarded on Porsche forums ( for its instant torque ).
in fact i heard it said that the “E” in the Panamera model name is a bigger upgrade than the “S” which says a lot …
only real questions for me is:
1 - will the car keep keep AWD and if so will it be mechanical or electric ?
it is promising they are testing the car in Dubai because clearly that is something Corvette team did not do for the Corvette Hybrid …
The Straight Pipes reported that Corvette Hybrid gets really hot inside whenever engine shuts off and loses the mechanically driven Air Conditioning compressor …
of course outside of Corvette trash all real hybrids use electric AC compressor that doesn’t shut off with the engine …
bottom line the Hybrid 911 should be faster, more responsive and ( slightly ) more efficient than the regular one … and i expect price premium to be small because it is small with Panamera hybrids …
basically they make these hybrids to meet emissions standards so they are incentivized to sell them by keeping prices low …
the real price premium with the hybrids is in long term cost of ownership when it comes to battery replacement …
OK i have to issue a correction and apology to 911 appreciator @OldFriendSaysHello
i made a mistake and under-estimated the 911 …
i never actually ran the numbers for piston area until yesterday which made me realize 911 engine is effectively bigger than most modern V8 engines …
in terms of piston area the 3.8 liter 911 engine is most closely matched by BMW 4.4 liter V8 … and is actually larger than the 4.0 liter V8 in the Panamera ! i honestly didn’t realize this until crunching the numbers …
so the 911 engine is basically larger ( when it comes to dimensions that matter for performance ) than one in Panamera Turbo and same size as what is in cars like X6M …
in my mind intuitively the 911 was like a better version of BMW M4 because both are 2+2 seaters with a 6 cylinder turbo … but that was WAY off base !
because with its higher aluminum content the 911, even with AWD, is actually slightly lighter than the smallest BMW M car ( the M2 ) … but its engine size is in M5 category … and so are the tires.
i also drove cars with both ZF 8 HP transmission and VW AG PDK and there is no comparison - with ZF 8 HP ( or any other regular automatic ) you lose SIGNIFICANT amount of time on every shift whereas with PDK it’s mostly instant. the PDK is a major competitive advantage.
i also have to note that cars like M2 are impossibly small inside because the transmission sits between the front two passengers, robbing what little space there is, whereas in a 911 the transmission robs space of REAR passengers ( who don’t matter )
so the 911 isn’t slightly better than M4 but rather an entire class above it altogether …
i mean you would expect that from the price and obviously i knew the 911 is faster than M4 but INTUITIVELY for some reason my brain associated 911 with cars like M4 and not Lambos even though i knew in terms of performance it was more in Lambo territory than M4 territory but i used to write it off as just a matter of higher state of tune … but i was wrong
the reasons that 911 is lambo fighter and not M4 fighter despite both of them being 6 cylidner 2+2 seaters are:
1 - aluminum chassis
2 - pdk transmission
3 - tire surface area
4 - piston area
i always thought the 911 is below Lambo but in its larger displacement turbo models it is really more on the side than below - it’s really just a question of whether you like the sound and feel of a Naturally Aspirated V10 or a Turbo Flat 6
i still maintain that 911 is an aging design that is not optimal but whereas i used to think it is fast because it is simply TUNED to be fast i now see that actually the tune isn’t really that aggressive and it comes down to factors discussed above …
I think 911s sound like shit merc V8 sounds best to me then higher pitched lambo/ferraris and I also think lambos/ferraris notch slightly above on the cool factor obviously
the reason V8s have a “rumble” sound is because for engine balancing reasons most V8s run a cylinder firing order where sometimes the pulses alternate between two cylinder banks and sometimes the same cylinder bank fires twice in a row and this is the reason for the warble / rumble bassy sound that only V8s have …
this actually represents a slight inefficiency of operation, but it is what gives V8s their signature sound that most people like because you instantly know it’s a V8 …
only cross-plane crankshaft V8s have this rumble … which is to say most V8s, but not all …
Ferrari V8s and some high-end Ford V8s have flat-plane crank that never fires the same cylinder back twice in a row which results in better performance but loses the V8 rumble and sounds more like V6 or V10 than a V8 …
watched this entire 1 hour long video teardown of a Porsche Boxster engine ( which was also used in 911 ) …
i also watched full teardowns of many other engines on that channel and this Porsche Flat 6 is i am sorry to say pretty stupid …
because of the boxer design it is a lot more parts, bolts and work to take apart … i finally understand why aside from Porsche and Subaru and BMW motorcycles these types of engines aren’t used any more …
i mean BMW had these during WW2 so there is nothing new about these - most automakers have the sense not to use them but Porsche sticks to tradition for tradition’s sake because they know their customers will be willing to pay double for repairs with an engine that is twice as hard to take apart …
even if i had the money to get a car with one of these engines i would not after watching this video - it’s just a stupid way to make an engine …
yes Boxer engines are inherently balanced and that’s probably why they were originally used or maybe because they worked better with air cooling but having watched teardowns of various engines it seems easier to add balance shafts to a V6 than to take apart a Flat-6.
and an Inline-6 is inherently balanced and simpler than even a V6 let alone Flat-6 to take apart ( and to build ).
an Inline-6 is really the way to go IMO now that we learned how to make cars with decent power using only 6 cylinders.
the 911 really has no reason to exist IMO other than it’s iconic and VW group being the company that completely dominates supercars ( with Bugatti, Lambo etc. ) can always make the 911 competitive despite how wrong that car is.
basically performance is easier to achieve than image. the 911 has the iconic image and VW has the engineering muscle to keep it going even though it should have been discontinued half a century ago.
merc V8 sounds best to me then higher pitched lambo/ferraris and I also think lambos/ferraris notch slightly above on the cool factor obviously
