Porsche LMP2 / RS Spyder

[netburner]

Porsche RS Spyder #10

[johnnynumfiv]

Ooooo lime rock pics. Thanks netburner.

[netburner]

Porsche RS Spyder #11

[netburner]

Porsche RS Spyder #12

[netburner]

Porsche RS Spyder #13

[johnnyperl]

I have a feeling they don't want us to see it....lol

Supposedly Porsche has been quite secretive about this car in all the preseason testing, not letting photographer get close when the bodyworks are off....

Like the R10 it is quite a piece of work mechanically and differs greatly from other LMP cars....

Its not too bad. The Penske pit area is fairly open; they separated the gearbox, engine and chassis right in front of the walkway. The gearbox is quite interesting; the differential is mounted relatively high and is easily removed from the back. I did not see when it was actually removed, but from the cleanliness/dryness of this area and the fact that the gear selector shaft passes through this area i would say that the diff is sealed inside a secondary, removable housing.

the rear suspension is actually very similar to the R10. I happened to be in the tech are when they took off the cover to check the restrictor (the tech held his hand on the inlet with the filter removed while the car was turned over for a couple seconds with the ignition off, you could hear the vacuum when he took his hand away). Both use pull shocks, torsion springs and push rods. On the R10 the shocks and springs are on the side of the gearbox, on the RS springs are on top and shocks are on the side. On the R10, these components are somewhat intergrated into the housing but on the RS the springs and bell cranks are mounted to the cast housing using a very large machined brace on the top of the gearbox. On the R10, the damper is right next to the exhaust pipe, both are surrounded in shielding. The Torsion springs on the R10 are in two pieces, a shaft and a sheath. the sheath is half the length of the shaft and allows the bell crank to be mounted in the middle of the bar. This is similar to recent Ferraris who have the spring sticking out through the body work in the rear. If you look closely in this pic you can see that at the front of the R10 the springs stick out in a similar fashion. I assume this allows a much wider range of ratings as well as making use of the sheath as a second weaker spring. The anti roll bar of the porsche goes above the housing, in the R10 it goes through. The R10 has a cool little lever arm at the end of the torsion springs to adjust preload. This was adjusted by a small shaft which connects to the gearbox with a rod-end on each end, so you twist the rod to shorted or length it (add or subtract preload) like a pushrod lets you adjust ride height. The R10 had a third roll damper without a spring, the porsche has a third spring and damper.

The CV on the R10 are housed inside the gearbox, on the RS they are outside. Also, the RS gearbox incorperates a structural carbon section on the top front which supports the anti roll bar mounts, suspension pick-ups as well as connecting to the engine (the cast part of the geabox connects to the crank case, the carbon part connects to the structural valve covers) On the top of the RS box is a carbon container with gold shielding on the outside, inside is either a fluid pump or resiviour. At the rear of the RS box is a carbon structure that supports the wing and houses a singe large diameter air jack. On the R10 Gearbox, the final drive ration is so large (or its just situated very high) that there is a large buldge on that side of the housing. On the R10, the shocks are accompanied by linear motion sensors, on the RS they are moniterd using a rotary sensor attached to the bell crank in a similar way as you would the anti roll bar.

A strnage feature of the RS is that the water enters and exits from the back (towards the rear of the car) of the cylinders, right where the gearbox connects. This is odd because the exhaust exits striaght out the sides (through two small silencers). This means that the solid water liines pass under the manifold to get to the twin radiators. I cannot say for certain, but it almost looks like each radiator serves only one bank rather than having a cross tube between the two. Also, the back pick up of the top A-arm does not attach to the gearbox but rather through a machined triangular structure that puts it further out from the lower A-arm, which attaches directly to the gearbox. the rear pick up for the lower A-ram allows for 4 different positions (facing the rear of the car, the holes for a sqaure pattern); upper and lower inboard holes, and an upper and lower slightly-more outboard pair.

For some reason, Porsche felt the need to have the suspension members and fluid resiviours finished in chrome...?

The the fuel rail on the R10 is amazing. Also, even the main engine vent line out the rear of the car is a solid carbon tube!

The front suspension on the RS is very interesting. There seems to be no torsion springs (or they are hidden by the brake cooling hoses). there is a push-shock on each side through a bell crank (which is very straight rather than triangular). the shock is connected at the end of the arm. What is most interesting is the anti roll mechanism. It appears to be a double-damper living in a single housing. There are knobs on the front for low/high speed adjustment of comp/reb.

R10, unfortunatly the RS is not featured on the site (?).

I was yelled at several times for taking pictures. just ignore it as there is no reason you cant take them. Sorry but i am not able to post pictures, they are being put to other use.

[RacingManiac]

I'll get my chance in a month....thanks for the description though, very interesting and detailed.

[go.pawel]

Some more pics

[man 430gt]

Wow....Thats A big hole in the front.........

Hmm

[Ferrer]

Porsche RS Spyder #15

[Ferrer]

Porsche RS Spyder #16

[Ferrer]

Porsche RS Spyder #17