Wow. Road & Track just put up a video of the Porsche 911 Turbo S’s launch control in action, and it’s pretty ridiculous.
The idea is this: launch control is not a new technology, nor is it even exclusive to Porsche. The explosive start is a complex computer operation that depends on the driver to do just three things: hold the brake, mash the gas, then let the brake go. The result is the fastest possible way to get to 60, 80, 100, or even the car’s top speed. It’s a marvel of sophisticated computer work that stays in the background and makes the driver feel like a rock star.
It’s also incredibly taxing on the car from a mechanical point of view. Think of the brake pads clamping down upon rotors, the cylinders pounding away before liftoff, and the clutch spinning through its gears as fast as possible. That’s a lot of heat generated, a lot of work for the cooling system to do, and an increased likelihood for an eventual breakdown. Right? Wrong.
We love the way Road & Track sets up their article so much that we have to reprint it here:
“‘There is no limit.’
That’s what Porsche chief propeller-head Wolfgang Hatz said when someone asked him how many violent, Bugatti-quick launches the 911 Turbo S can perform before grenading itself. Frankly, I was surprised at his answer.”
We love this introduction because it lets us imagine Wolfgang Hatz as this clinically pristine man, perhaps sitting at a table in front of a panel of the world’s press, being perfectly serious as a journalist asks with a child’s naiveté whether the Turbo S can do two launches or three before becoming too hot.
Bold claim. Even bolder is Road & Track’s solution for testing it. They thought, “Okay, we’re free to launch it without limits. Let’s do it 50 times then, back to back, to celebrate the 911’s 50th anniversary.” There’s poetry to that, and also a certain bull-headedness. A trip to the mechanic for blowing up the transmission on a Turbo S would not be inexpensive.
Even better was the descriptor used by the Porsche PR executive when asked about the test (“abusive” is what he called it). PR guys are all about minimizing risk and setting expectations low, so would be surprised if he hadn’t freaked out a bit. His answer also betrays just the teensiest bit of fear, as well, for abuse implies a breaking point.
The results? Road & Track actually performed 61 back-to-back launches before they got “woozy from acceleration and lose count.” No overheating. No system shutdowns. Just a perfect replication of the experience, over and over and over again. Porsche’s claim for the Turbo S’s 0-60 time is 2.9 seconds. The guys at Road & Track got it down to 2.6.
Any sports car that launch itself with the speed of a supercar for what appears to be an infinite amount of repetitions is basically a marvel. Check out the video above.
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