PCA TechTactics 2011

[FTS]

TechTactics is coming up this weekend; preview from our PCA channel:

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Few things:

I do not understand engines, which is one of the reasons I wanted to attend this event. Unfortunately, I do not believe they will be covering the GT1 internals. However, we might have the opportunity to ask questions on our engines during breaks or lunch time, so if there are any questions you would like me to explore, please let me know. I have the coolant lines issue already on top of the list :)

Mr. Tremper also send this message to participants:

Part Sales at Tech Tactics

Tech Tactics attendees will be able to purchase Porsche Genuine Parts and accessories during the event
The PET system will be available to look up parts. Knopf Automotive Parts employees as well as Chris Czock from Porsche Cars NA will be o hand to assist.
Knopf will offer a 20% discount off MSRP to all PCA members.
If the part is stocked at the NE Porsche Distribution Center (PDC), it will be picked and supplied to the attendee when purchased.
If the parts are not in stock at the PDC, attendees will have the option of pre-paying Knopf and the part will be shipped. Handling charges may apply.
Attendee will have the option of ordering part from their 'local' dealer if they don't want to wait to have it placed on order by Knopf.


If any of you would like to order parts, please let me know.

Cheers,

[bman]

Sorry I missed it!

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[FTS]

It was very good, first-rate event, I am sorry you missed it too, we would have a lot of fun. You would have especially enjoyed the stuff around turbos, not to mention the special 2011 calendar, February is the GT2 RS ;)

[FTS]

The event was superb. Great new facility, tremendous speakers and expertise, and interesting off-line conversations. My 4-hr drive was more than worth it. Another one is being planned for later this year, in Ontario Canada, if you missed this one and have the chance to make that one, do not miss it, you will not be disappointed.

One of the most interesting sessions was presented by Dr. Frank Walliser from Porsche AG, who is the head of the 918 Spyder program. His presentation gave us a little bit of the history of how the project came about and how he got involved in it, which is a great story and he tells it with flare. Basically, the 918 is the successor of the Carrera GT and has several technological transfers from the RS Spyder ALMS race car, which Dr. Frank was the project lead of that vehicle as well, so you can see the connection :) Of course the 918 adds the hybrid and 4-wheel drive technologies; as well as PDK on top of what the RS Spyder had. Just as in the past the race cars heavy influenced the street cars at Porsche with direct technology transfer, the same connection is there in several areas between the RS Spyder and 918 Spyder. Currently there are no rule sets that support the concept of 918 RSR, so there aren't any definitive answers for it to be fully developed for racing in ALMS/LMS.

As they were setting up the performance targets for the 918 as with several other high-performance models, they seem to summarize it with a two-dimmensional chart; the x-axis is the fuel efficiency (CO2 emissions) and the y-axis is the 'ring lap time. So, in general terms, the target is to significantly improve emissions while at least maintaining the performance delivery levels to that of the highest performing current models. This seems critical as the market place is changing from pure horsepower wars to environmentally friendly performance. For Porsche to keep its relevance, it knows that they cannot give up on existing performance, but have to improve energy efficiency by several fold. The good news is that they believe, and many market experts also believe, Porsche has the answer and is ahead of pretty much everyone that matters.

Dr. Frank or any other PCNA or PAG representatives will not talk or confirm the existence of the 991 model line at this time. They were more secretive about that than the 918, and I am sure for good reason too. Summary of my impression after an hour-long presentation by Dr. Frank was that the next 10-15 years are probably going to be one of the most exciting periods in company's history, second only to the first 10 years from a product development perspective.

Another very pleasant point for me to observe was that our PCA is clearly very close to PCNA and PAG, and PAG has long acknowledged how influential PCA is in many respects. Manny and Vu are truly excellent ambassadors from this regard.

[FTS]

Few photos can be found here:

http://gt2gt3cup.org/album.php?albumid=8