F1technical.net

Yes, M-M, I am aware of it.. ..& that fatal crash was partly his fault, surely - no safety belts?

I recall reading Frank Gardner's memoir, he was a test driver for Porsche developing the prototypes..

He was unhappy with the seemingly blasé attitude of the German engineers to the drivers safety..
& he gave them heaps about it..

But he felt it was largely an aero-issue, with that big-arsed bloody bustle..
& anyhow, crashing anything at those speeds on those tracks then - certainly.. .. was no joke..

Sombrero, superb! Never heard of that car!

Looks really good and clearly the later 956 shows some similarities!

Yes - interesting S,
Can we get a comparison of its best lap vs the factory 917s?

The time comparison 3.46.54 [216,534 km/h] (18th) is not possible because the 917 K81 was not running well at all. They tried two engines a 4.5L and a 4.9L but couldn't get the full power. The car was supposed to be faster and with a better gas mileage than the 936. It was 50 km/h slower at full speed. The 917 K81 was supposed to run 65 min before pitting but after 54 min the tank was already empty...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ne4Brg27xg[/youtube]

Porsche 917K/81, Bob jette l'éponge

http://www.les24heures.fr/index.php/198 ... che-917k81

Kremer- Porsche 917 K81

http://www.motorsport-info.de/Porsche_9 ... ans_81.php

That Spa shot looked quick.. & it was..

Jo Siffert took the lap record there - in a 917 - with a 260.80 km/h average speed!..

Sixty six 917s built, & forty nine survivors are still accounted for..

( source: Sports Racing Cars by Anthony Pritchard)

J.A.W. wrote:How long did that beast hold the Le Mans 24hr distance record?
Decades wasn't it?

Almost forgot to answer to that question. Bearing in mind the numerous regulation changes at that time, and the track changes, the record held for 39 years (yes, 39! I knew it was for a long time but never thought THAT long).

However, when looking at the race track, you understand why. This is the track in 1971 when the record was made (5335.31km):



And this is the track in 1972:



No wonder it took so long to beat it. We had to wait until 2010 (5410.71km) with that track layout:

As if it was not slippery enough...

Wow that one looks fantastic and ready to go to the supermarket! Crazy, I wish I had that in my garage!

Small video on an old very well known 917 with some interesting methodology to restore it!

This article below includes the (still amazing) performance figures for the CANAM turbo 917..

http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article.html?&A=110781

J.A.W. wrote:This article below includes the (still amazing) performance figures for the CANAM turbo 917..

http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article.html?&A=110781

Thanks! 2 aero values on that page:

- 917L had a Cd of 0.33 (with 9x15 front and 12x15 rear wheels)
- 1970 917K had a Cd of 0.464

As a comparison, Mulsanne corner said 0.417 for the 1971 917K.

The Porsche 917-10 Interserie Spyder 1972