Porsche could introduce a major overhaul of the twin-turbo V8 engine that powers its 963 LMDh in time for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
The German manufacturer has revealed that it is working on a new crankshaft for its 4.6-litre twin-turbo LMDh engine, developed from the normally aspirated units used in the RS Spyder LMP2 and the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid road car.
Urs Kuratle, Porsche's LMDh project manager, explained that the brand is now awaiting approval from the governing bodies of the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship before finalizing a racing calendar for the updated engine.
“The final point of discussion with IMSA and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest [che gestisce il WEC insieme alla FIA] it's whether we can introduce it in 2024 and not the following season,” Kuratle said.
“If the answer is no, we won't do it, while [se la risposta è sì] we're not sure when we'll do it for the first time. As we all know, modifications such as crankshafts have a very long lead time, requiring months to be fitted to the cars, and we need to have the first parts to carry out durability tests.”
“We definitely won't run it in any race before Le Mans; whether we will introduce it at Le Mans we're not sure yet, we just don't know.”
Kuratle pointed out that only one homologation is allowed in the LMDh, meaning the engine would have to be introduced in all 963s, both Penske's and customer ones, racing simultaneously in WEC and IMSA.
This could mean as many as six cars at Le Mans on 15/16 June and another four at the IMSA 6 Hours of Watkins Glen two weeks later.
“If you introduce something new, it has to be in all cars,” he said. “And if it's larger parts, you run into supply chain issues.”
Porsche did not reveal the exact reasons for the planned engine upgrades, but during the inaugural season it suffered from vibration problems with the flat-crank V8, which had a negative effect on reliability.
Photo by: Marc Fleury
#38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 of Antonio Felix Da Costa, Will Stevens, Yifei Ye
It's unclear whether the revisions will be as significant as those made to the 919 Hybrid LMP1 early in its development: Porsche opted for a redesign that included a change to the firing order of its two-liter V4 after the first real test in circuit of the car in the summer of 2013.
Porsche hasn't even said whether the engine modification will be among the five performance developments, the so-called “evo jokers”, allowed in the life cycle of the LMDh and Le Mans Hypercar prototypes. Revisions aimed at safety and reliability are free, but manufacturers must still request authorization from those responsible for the regulation to make the changes and therefore update the approval.
The evo joker system, which was aligned for LMDh and LMH last year, actually involves a negotiation process, which explains Kuratle's comments on the approval process with the ACO/FIA and IMSA.
The four 963s that will participate in the IMSA 24 Hours of Daytona, which kicks off this weekend with the pre-event Roar test, are largely unchanged from last year: Porsche said it had not invoked any hoaxes in the developments.
“It's a series of small points, like different sensors or different cable layouts,” Kuratle explained. “There won't be anything visual on the car, so you won't notice anything different on the outer shell of the car, so the aerodynamics will look the same.
“It's just a series of details, sometimes a change of material: before it was aluminum, and for reliability reasons we switched to steel. These are minor details and a relatively small list.” Kuratle confirmed that the cars ran with the updated specifications during the official IMSA test at Daytona in early December.
#WEC #Porsche #hopes #engine #Mans
