Pirelli will continue and enhance its support of Porsche Club of America over the next three years, having renewed its agreement with the world’s largest organisation for the brand’s enthusiasts. The club, which has more than 130,000 members in 145 North American regions, cited Pirelli’s status as an original equipment supplier to Porsche as a major component of its decision to continue the agreement.
Pirelli has renewed its agreement with Porsche Club GB, Europe’s largest Porsche club. As such, it will continue to give the club – with its more than 22,000 members and 60,000 Porsche cars – technical and other types of support for an additional five years.
Porsche is the latest vehicle manufacturer to announce that it is to stop producing diesel cars. It follows a 2015 scandal in which its parent company, Volkswagen, admitted it had cheated emissions tests for diesel engines. The Porsche chief executive said the company was “not demonising diesel”.
Falken Motorsports has become the first team to supply a set of test tyres for the new Porsche 911 GT3 R on the Nürburgring.
According to Bridgestone Corporation, its global investments in research and development are the highest in the industry – it invested more than £710 million in this area last year – and the company says they’ve paid off. As evidence, the tyre maker points to the more than 45 original equipment fitments it has landed on more than 15 vehicle models since the start of 2018. What’s more, over 60 additional fitments are expected to come by the end of this year.
On 28 May 1983, the late Stefan Bellof set a new outright lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife when he propelled his Porsche 956 around its entire 20.832 kilometres in 6 minutes 11.13 seconds. This record stood until 29 June 2018 when another Porsche – the spectacular 919 Evo – was brought into play during the 919 Tribute Tour. With Timo Bernhard behind the wheel, the Porsche hybrid sped around the Nordschleife in just 5 minutes 19.55 seconds.
The new Dunlop Sport Maxx Race 2 has been approved by Porsche as original equipment for the new 911 GT3 RS. The tyre brand will supply sizes 265/35ZR20 (99Y) XL and 325/30ZR21 (108Y) XL to Porsche, both tyres carrying the N1 marking to indicate Porsche homologation.
A second Porsche OE homologation has been announced for the Sport Maxx Race 2: The Dunlop tyre has gained approval by Porsche as original equipment for on road use on the new 911 GT2 RS in the sizes 265/35 ZR 20 (99Y) XL and 325/30 ZR 21 (108Y) XL. Porsche gave the Dunlop tyre its blessing after intensive testing on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany and on Porsche’s proving ground in Nardò in Italy. The Sport Maxx Race 2 is already approved for the Porsche 911 GT3.
A second Porsche original equipment deal for Nexen Tire: Following last year’s approval of the Nexen N’Fera RU1 for factory fitment on the Cayenne, the tyre has now been given the green light for Porsche’s compact luxury SUV, the Macan. The N’Fera RU1 will be supplied for the Macan in sizes 235/55R19 101Y and 255/50R19 103Y.
Bridgestone has been selected by Porsche to be a tyre supplier for the third generation Porsche Cayenne. The Dueler H/P Sport which is being fitted to the Cayenne in the 19-inch front 255/55 ZR19 and rear 275/50 ZR19 sizes and the 20-inch front 275/45 ZR20 and rear 305/40 ZR20 sizes, was fully developed at the Bridgestone European Technical Centre in Rome. The tyres will be produced at the Bridgestone plant in Poznan, Poland and will bear the marking ‘N0’ on the sidewall to denote their original equipment status.
Porsche has become the world’s first vehicle manufacturer to produce lightweight wheels with braided carbon fibre. They will be available as an option for the Porsche 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series.
Pirelli has renewed its sponsorship of the Village on the Curves at Le Mans for 2017, as part of the Italian tyre company’s relationship with Porsche Club GB. The Village on the Curve is a camping village located on the Porsche Curves at the French circuit. Porsche owners flock to the village to enjoy the views of the track and community atmosphere.
The Italian Autodromo Nazionale Monza hosted the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) pre-season test, the first opportunity for fans to see all the 2017 competitors and for teams to gather data before the season begins in two weeks’ time. In around 14 hours of track time, teams worked on set-ups to optimise their new tyre and car combinations; the 14 cars covered 2268 laps – a total of 13138 km. Wet weather on Saturday evening and a damp track on Sunday gave teams opportunities to work with the intermediate and full-wet tyre options.
FIA World Endurance Championship Porsche teams Dempsey-Proton and Gulf Racing will run on Dunlop tyres in their global campaigns following comparative testing. Both teams have experience of working with Dunlop in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), where the brand is the sole tyre supplier to the LMGTE class. Both teams will race in the LMGTE AM class of WEC, including the Le Mans 24 hour race.
Four in every five new Porsche 911 GT3s will be fitted with specially-developed Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 N1 ultra-high-performance tyres, in 245/35 ZR20 front and 305/30 ZR20 rear sizes. The road-legal track tyre is a specially modified version developed as part of the ongoing technical partnership of the German car maker and Michelin – designated by the N1 marking. Compared to its N0 marked predecessor, Michelin says the Pilot Sport Cup 2 N1 offers improved lap times and stability, as well as more sporty handling. The new 911 GT3 was launched by Porsche at the Geneva Motor Show.
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