Porsche 919 Hybrid Honors Porsche’s Past, Paves Path to Its Future
The Porsche 919 Hybrid was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show.
At the Geneva Motor Show, Porsche unveiled the car that they will pilot in their long-awaited return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans: the Porsche 919 Hybrid.
The narration that accompanies the video above may as well serve as the manifesto of the Porsche 919 Hybrid and the automaker’s Le Mans return:
Why is it that we simply can’t let go? What keeps us at the drawing board day and night? In the garage? The testbank? The cockpit? It’s a mission. These 13.629 kilometers that mean the world…at least to us. The 24 Hours of Le Mans. We’ve made history here. We fell in love here. Taking top honors sixteen times, and gaining experience that can be felt today in every Porsche.
The Porsche 919 Hybrid. The carbon incarnation of all that we are. The essence of more than 60 years of racing and more than 30,000 victories. Our ceaseless quest for performance with maximum efficiency. The battle for every 100th of a second, every gram of weight. For the racing car of today and our vision of the sports car of the future.
The Porsche 919 Hybrid was built over the course of two and a half years by a team of 200 engineers and experts. It’s powered by a V-four petrol engine that generates more than 500 horsepower, a lithium-ion power pack, and an electric motor, creating a vehicle that combines power with efficiency and aims to put Porsche back in their rightful place atop the endurance racing throne.
“In 2014, it will not be the fastest car that wins the WEC Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, rather it will be the car that goes the furthest with a defined amount of energy,” said Porsche AG Chairman Matthias Muller. “And it is precisely this challenge that carmakers must overcome. The 919 Hybrid is our fastest mobile research laboratory, and the most complex race car that Porsche has ever built.”
The Porsche 919 Hybrid will first take the track April 20th during the FIA World Endurance Championship before setting its sights on Le Mans (June 14-15).
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