2 Porsche 944 on 2040-cars

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Porsche LMP1 to use 4-cyl hybrid powertrain [w/poll]

With the Formula One season - and indeed his entire F1 career - now behind him, Mark Webber took advantage of his early release from Red Bull Racing to try out the new LMP1 which Porsche is developing, undertaking the final test session of 2013 before Porsche throws it head first into the FIA World Endurance Championship next April. The session - which followed previous tests at Magny-Cours, Monza, Paul Ricard and the Eurospeedway at Lausitz - was held at the Algarve circuit in Portimão, Portgual, in collaboration with Michelin, which is developing the tires for the car. But that's hardly the news here.
No, the news is the first confirmation we've seen on the type of powertrain Porsche has developed for its new Le Mans prototype: a gasoline-burning four-cylinder engine with direct injection and two energy recovery systems. This contrasts sharply with the V6 turbodiesel and single electric motor used by Audi in the R18 e-tron Quattro (or at least the outgoing version) or the naturally-aspirated V8 and single electric motor found in the Toyota TS030. Flexibility in the rules set down by the FIA and ACO give the manufacturers that kind of latitude, prompting F1 teams like Ferrari and Renault to consider developing their new engines for Le Mans prototypes as well.
At this point Porsche isn't saying how large its four-cylinder engine is or how much power it will produce. But it'll be interesting, to say the least, to see how it fares against the Audi and Toyota in next year's championship and at Le Mans when it'll be piloted by Webber, former Lola LMP1 driver Neel Jani and Audi's own 2011 Le Mans-winning pair of Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard.

1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS takes center stage with Petrolicious

Today, one of the most exciting track toys available is the Porsche 911 GT3. Its forbearer, though, was an altogether different beast that was every bit as exciting. Yes, we're talking about the old 911 Carrera RS that blessed the early 1970s. With a mere 1,580 cars built, meant specifically to satisfy the FIA's homologation requirements, the RS is one rare pre-Malaise era cars.
Complete with a 2.7-liter flat-six engine, this RS of Mark Haddawy is one of the earlier examples of the breed (later cars received a larger, 3.0-liter engine). Still, it can scamper to 60 miles per hour in a very respectable 5.6 seconds and will happily hit 150 mph in a straight line. Sporting Porsche's iconic duckbill rear spoiler, the equally iconic Fuchs wheels, as well as slew of options, as Haddawy points out, each of the nearly 1,600 RS models is its own unique iteration on the Porsche performance formula.
Take a look below for the latest video from the crew at Petrolicious.

The mid-engine Porsche backstory

As an automaker's identity evolves over years, its signature becomes defined by any number of factors - heritage (Mercedes-Benz), image (Lamborghini), or market share (Toyota). In the case of Porsche, it was an engineering quirk that forged the German company's most enduring character trait.
Porsche would not have survived - let alone, thrived - in today's saturated landscape had it not been for the 911, and that slope-tailed sports car wouldn't have sprung to life without its predecessor, the 356. While phenomenal success of those rear-engine icons built the company, forays into the mid-engine configuration have played a significant part in establishing the brand's identity.
The Mid-Engine Prototype Of Ferry Porsche's Dreams