What happens when an LMP1 car is let off the legislative leash?
With a hat-trick of outright Le Mans wins under its belt, Porsche’s 919 Hybrid was officially retired from duty at the end of the 2017 World Endurance Championship. It had enjoyed a fierce duel with its equally tech-heavy LMP1 rival from Toyota, a contest made all the closer by the FIA’s stringent rules and regulations governing the likes of fuel flow, energy recovery, weight and aero.
No longer beholden to the FIA, and as curious as the rest of us as to exactly what the 919 could really do, Porsche has created the 919 Evo. This is a last hurrah for Weissach’s game-changing hybrid prototype and a thoughtful gesture to the hundreds of men and women who toiled to create and run it.
The basis for the 919 Evo is the 2017 car and a development package that would have been rolled out this year had the decision been made to stay in the WEC. This included significant aerodynamic enhancements as well as extensive tweaking under the skin.
The Evo is still powered by the same compact 2.0-litre V4 with its twin energy recovery systems – braking energy on the front axle and exhaust energy from the ICE. The lightweight combustion unit powers the rear axle while an electric motor powers the front, providing variable four-wheel drive for improved traction and grip.
Such were the limitations imposed by the FIA on the 919 that there was no need for Porsche’s engineers to physically alter this complex package. Instead they just disregarded the efficiency regulations limiting the energy from fuel per lap. At the start of the 2017 season this was set at 1.784 kilos or 2.464-litres. This dictated an output of just under 500bhp from the combustion engine. Freed from the restriction and equipped with updated software, the 919 Hybrid Evo could now deliver over 710bhp. A staggering gain.
Next, Weissach’s LMP team turned to the energy recovery systems. At the same point last year, the allowable limit of recovered energy was limited to 6.37 megajoule, a figure that everyone knew was far below the systems’ potential. In test runs the Evo gathered a full boost of 8.49 megajoules, increasing output on the electric drive by ten percent to around 440bhp.
The Evo also received a new front diffuser to counteract a very large new rear wing, now equipped from actively controlled drag reduction. Total aerodynamic modifications resulted in a mighty 53 per cent gain in downforce and an increase in efficiency of 66 per cent.
Porsche then began to shed weight wherever possible, removing the air-conditioning, windscreen wiper, several sensors, the pneumatic jack system and mandatory communications devices for race control. The resulting 39kg reduction brought the overall weight down to just 849kg.
The last task was down to long-standing tyre partner Michelin. The firm developed a bespoke new compound for the 919 Evo that significantly increased grip while maintaining the original dimensions of the 2017 919’s 31/71-18 tyres.
The leg work done, it was time for the 919 Evo to go public. The official unveil came at Spa Francorchamps on April 9, when Swiss works driver Neel Jani rolled onto the closed 4.3 mile circuit in perfect race conditions. At 10.23am, Jani posted a scarcely credible 1.41.77, smashing the existing lap record held by World Champion Lewis Hamilton in his 2017 Mercedes F1 W07. By way of context, if Jani had been attempting to qualify the 919 at Spa last August in Round 12 of the Formula 1 season, he would have taken pole by 0.783 of a second.
Endurance veteran Jani was suitably stunned by what he had just achieved: “The 919 Evo is brutally impressive. It is definitely the fastest car I ever drove. The grip level is at a fully new dimension for me, I couldn’t imagine this amount beforehand. The speed on which everything happens on a single lap with the 919 Evo is that fast that the demand on reaction speed is very different to what I was used to in the WEC. We are not only faster than the F1 pole from 2017. Today’s lap was twelve seconds faster compared to our WEC pole position from last year.”
The record run at Spa was the first appearance on the 919 Tribute Tour, but it has since appeared on the streets of New York and lapping the Nordschleife side by side with a Porsche 956 C.
Club members will be able to see the 919 Evo at first hand as it takes part in the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July and the Festival of Porsche at Brands Hatch in September 2. It’s final outing is scheduled for the Rennsport Reunion in Laguna Seca in the last weekend of September.