The 963 was powered by a twin-turbocharged 4.6-litre V8 producing 680hp at 10,000rpm. The electric hybrid system regenerates the battery under braking by harvesting energy from the rear wheels, then unleashes the extra power through a seven-speed transmission when accelerating. This means that the height control system on the car can be set and changed through the steering wheel.
“The driver’s manual we sent out was over 30 pages,” said PPM chief Jonathan Digid. “You can tell when they haven’t read it, because if we make a call and the telemetry from the pit doesn’t happen, we have to stop and explain the process again.
“Our switch is a knob A multi-level switch with colors, deltas, bravos, numbers, letters and alphas. It’s important for them to understand.
Cameron, 34, of Newport Beach, Calif., is a two-time IMSA WeatherTech sports car winner — once with a Corvette and once with an Acura — and a BMW. He was headhunted by the new Porsche factory team with the aim of bringing top glory back to the German marque, which has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 19 times and the 24 Hours of Daytona 18 times.
After explaining the regular shifter and clutch paddles on the rear of the wheel – including a headlight flasher button and a “secret recipe” paddle to charge the battery – Cameron went on to explain the front Knobs and switches on the side.
“As you can see, it’s very complex, with many dials, buttons and thumbwheels that control many different functions,” he said. “We have traction control that can Tuning functions, covering wet, dry and low-grip conditions, are controlled by a button on top of the wheel.
“We have the brake function, we have the shift light and the light on the top of the warning, the screen with the message, the lap time and the gear, and a lot of important functions – it’s a very Beautiful color display. Through the screen we can use all the tools we have so we don’t get lost in what we’re doing.”
Cameron and his nine factory Porsches Drivers even go beyond the 30-page manual, which changes often due to updates to the car’s complex systems, making it redundant.
“In the early days, everything was pretty much under control,” he said of the manual. “But now they haven’t actually sent us a new version for a while because It updates so fast! You show up and think ‘well that button wasn’t there before, now it’s here!’
” As the first game draws near, things settle down again – you really get a feel for it and dig around and you’ll learn all the switches you need and the effects you’re looking for. If you get lost, you can always radio to your engineer for guidance, “Which switch should I go to?” But it’s all part of the learning process.
“Sometimes, even engineers have to rely on the powertrain people to find the answers. Live what, but we’ll figure it out soon!”
In our second video below, you can watch Klaus Bachler explain the not-so-complicated aspects of the new 992-type Porsche 911 GT R feature, he will race for Pfaff Motorsports at the GTD Pro level. Even without the mixing system, Krause has a lot of buttons and knobs to play with…
You can see the Type 963 and 992 GT cars debut at the end of January at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, Florida, before they will compete in IMSA SportsCar events and pan-FIA Worldwide World Endurance Championship – including the Centennial 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
Acura explains the Honda F1 influence in LMDh’s design, why the car makes “strange noises” Grosjean joins Lamborghini before 2024 LMDh drive
