The 544-HP Porsche 911 GT1 Evo Was The First Mid-Engined 911

Imagine what this thing costs today.

There’s no doubt about it: Porsche is the king of the Nurburgring. Late last week, Porsche announced its 919 Evo hybrid had smashed the Nurburgring all-time record, clocking in at 5:19.545. Because the Porsche has withdrawn the car from endurance racing, such as Le Mans, the 919 no longer had to abide by certain regulations, thus allowing Porsche to rework the car’s aerodynamics. But before the 919 hybrid, there were other endurance racers such as the 911 GT1 Evo, in service from 1996 until 1998.

Porsche has just released this video looking back on the 911 GT1 Evo, the first mid-engined 911. Because of the FIA’s homologation rules, Porsche was required to build 25 road-legal versions, all of which came powered by a twin-turbo boxer engine with 544 hp. Top speed was an impressive 193 mph. It weighed a total of just 2,535 pounds.

While the race-going versions competed in the GT1 class at, for example, Le Mans, the road-legal GT1’s found their way into the hands of very wealthy and prestigious owners. You might find one for up for sale on a rare occasion, but be prepared to pay handsomely. Although no everyone will dig its 996-style headlights, there’s no doubt the 911 GT1 Evo was special and totally looked the part of a street-legal endurance race car.

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This Is What A Mid-Engined Porsche 911 Could Look Like

Inspired by the fully electric Porsche Taycan.

Since its inception in the 1960s, the Porsche 911 has always adopted a rear-engine layout, and the 992 next-generation model will be no different. There have been a few exceptions, however. Back in the 1990s, Porsche built the road-going 911 GT1 Stra?enversion for homologation purposes, which featured a mid-mounted engine for the first time ever in a 911. More recently, the 911 RSR also broke the tradition with a mid-engine layout, but it’s restricted to the racetrack. Could it be applied to a road-going 911 again one day?

Purists probably won’t be happy, but Porsche hasn’t ruled out the possibility. “There is nothing coming soon, but in the mid-term don’t rule it out,” Andreas Preuninger, the boss of Porsche’s GT car development, told Autocar in an interview last year. “I think that adding some excitement to the car in this way wouldn’t be bad.”

Since then, render artist Rain Prisk imagined what a hypothetical mid-engined 911 could look like.

The design takes its cues from the upcoming Taycan electric sedan and also features a massive rear wing that looks like it belongs on the track-focused GT3 RS. Unlike traditional rear-engined 911s, the hypothetical mid-engined 911 no longer has a 2+2 seating layout and has been turned into a pure two-seater sports car. The resulting design looks like a cross between a Porsche and McLaren, but Porsche’s current design language lends itself well to a mid-engine layout. Time will tell if Porsche ever decides to produce a road-going successor to the GT1.

View the original article here

The 544-HP Porsche 911 GT1 Evo Was The First Mid-Engined 911

Imagine what this thing costs today.

There’s no doubt about it: Porsche is the king of the Nurburgring. Late last week, Porsche announced its 919 Evo hybrid had smashed the Nurburgring all-time record, clocking in at 5:19.545. Because the Porsche has withdrawn the car from endurance racing, such as Le Mans, the 919 no longer had to abide by certain regulations, thus allowing Porsche to rework the car’s aerodynamics. But before the 919 hybrid, there were other endurance racers such as the 911 GT1 Evo, in service from 1996 until 1998.

Porsche has just released this video looking back on the 911 GT1 Evo, the first mid-engined 911. Because of the FIA’s homologation rules, Porsche was required to build 25 road-legal versions, all of which came powered by a twin-turbo boxer engine with 544 hp. Top speed was an impressive 193 mph. It weighed a total of just 2,535 pounds.

While the race-going versions competed in the GT1 class at, for example, Le Mans, the road-legal GT1’s found their way into the hands of very wealthy and prestigious owners. You might find one for up for sale on a rare occasion, but be prepared to pay handsomely. Although no everyone will dig its 996-style headlights, there’s no doubt the 911 GT1 Evo was special and totally looked the part of a street-legal endurance race car.

View the original article here