Re: Errata

[Carscribe@domain.elided]

In a message dated 10/27/01 1:38:22 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
cmsmith@domain.elided writes:


> And finally, it is amazing what people think I said about the Porsche 911. 
> Notwithstanding Ryan's astute reference to the winningest Porsche engined 
> Formula One car, the McLaren TAG turbo V6, I stand by my assertion that 
> Porsche cannot win Formula One. Why stop there. I challenge Porsche to try 
> and win Formula One and prove me a blithering idiot knowing nothing about 
> whereof I speak. Their CART effort was a joke. Their first attempt at 
> Formula One, likewise.
> 
> Even Mazda and Toyota have won at Le Mans. Endurance racing is not about 
> fast cars, just durable ones that aren't too slow.
> 
> 
> Michael Smith
> 


Regarding Porsche and F1, Porsche's official line on why there has been no 
factory effort since the early '60's (where they very well with Dan Gurney, 
thank you) is a matter of cost, marketing and philosophy: Cost, the effort 
would yield a low ROI; marketing, the typical Porsche buyer has only a 
passing interest in F1; and philosophy, Ferry Porsche emphatically states in 
his autobiography "Cars are My Life"  that Porsche will always focus on 
racing efforts that yield the most engineering innovations that can be 
applied to production cars. Hence no F1 factory effort. By those criteria, 
and estimating how many CART fans are potential Porsche buyers, it's not 
surprising that Porsche abandoned the costly effort before it was sorted out. 
Porsche is now involved in current F1; they have been, and are currently 
consulting to a number of F1 teams and engine development efforts, plus the 
mentioned former TAG/Porsche effort. 

And as far as endurance racing being less about being fast than about 
reliability-- have we forgotten the speeds achieved on the Mulsanne straight 
or on the banks of Daytona? I hardly think that 200+ mph in 1971 in a Porsche 
750 HP 917 is trivial, nor 205+ in a 936 several years later, and 220+ of the 
962's. Of course these aren't 911 based, but the 200 + mph 935 endurance 
racer was. It certainly is about top speed as well as reliability and 
efficiency, and considered by many a far more relevant and challenging venue 
than F1. 

Appreciative of quality, fast cars, regardless of layout or origin,
Paul Mitchell

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