Amazing ACS is a desert stormer reprised

Singer’s homage to famous Porsche rally raid machine is just as monstrous.

Homage to history …. the Singer ACS takes inspiration from Porsche’s incredible 959 (below), a Group B rally machine that made huge imprint in the Paris-Dakar rallies in the 1980s.

PICTURE this: A Porsche 911 with extensive off-road modifications and a highly-tuned engine banging out mammoth horsepower, capable of surviving in the toughest terrain.

The brand did exactly that back in the 1980s, when creating the berserk 959, a car originally developed as a Group B world rally championship car – which, when that was kyboshed, proved particularly useful in hard-out long-distance desert racing ‘raids’, particularly the Paris-Dakar in the days when it was actually that. The 959 subsequently also rendered in a limited-run road car form and is now a highly-prized collectible. 

Now California-based Singer has revealed its latest creations: a pair of all-terrain models offering a 2021 interpretation of the famous factory model. 

The Singer ACS (which stands for All-terrain Competition Study) consists of a pair of rally-prepped machines that take inspiration from the 959 as well as the 911 SC/RS that Porsche also rallied. 

Commissioned by one of Singer’s long-term clients, ACS has been co-developed in the United Kingdom by Richard Tuthill, whose operation specialises in motorsport and rally preparation for classic Porsches.

Last year, Tuthill Porsche constructed the car that won the 2019 East African Safari Classic - a 5000km event that runs through Kenya and Tanzania. Back in the 1980s, Tuthill partnered with Prodrive to develop the original World Rally-prepped 911 SC/RS. 

Two cars have been built: the first, white car seen today is adapted for “high-speed desert rallying” while a second, lower-slung, car is designed for tarmac rallying.

Both remind that, while is Singer is often touted as a restoration specialist, it really often goes well beyond that role and reaches well into total re-engineering. 

The ACS cars are exemplars of that. AS is almost always the case qwith Singers, the starting point is a 1990 964-generation 911, which is reskinned in a carbon fibre body.

However, as the wild looks suggest, these are unique to the ACS and are designed for two main purposes, says British website AutoExpress, which has gained access to the project.

The on-line edition says the body rework takes into account the increased cooling demands required in harsh off-road environments. It allow easy access to important mechanical components which may need to be examined during service stops. As a result, the entire front and rear sections both open up like huge clamshells. 

The panels wrap around an extensively reinforced monocoque, and one which accommodates a significantly raised ride height. Bumpers front and rear are simple bars, which enable even greater approach and departure angles.

Tough rally-spec suspension is then attached to the bulked-up chassis. Twin dampers - each five-way adjustable - are mounted at all four corners, in order to control the shocks endured by the new long-travel suspension. Contact to the ground is through chunky BF-Goodrich all-terrain tyres, wrapped around 8x16” forged aluminium wheels. Brakes discs are steel, and are gripped by four piston calipers all round.

Porsche’s ‘Metzger’ flat six remains Singer’s start point for the engine, but its configuration here is new. Capacity is 3.6-litres, but it’s boosted by a pair of intercooler-fed turbochargers. Total power can be adjusted based on the demands of the specific rally, but the new unit offers at least 355kW and 569Nm of torque. 

Drive is sent to all four wheels via front, centre and rear limited slip differentials, and a five-speed sequential dog-box, which allows the driver to shift up without lifting the throttle. The gears can be operated through either an extended gear lever on the transmission tunnel, or by steering wheel-mounted paddles.

Other modifications to the standard Singer formula include a long range fuel tank and two full size spare wheels. 

Inside, the ACS sports a much more contemporary appearance than Singer’s retro-inspired road cars, Auto Express says.

Accessed through shorter doors (a result of the significantly reinforced sill area) the cabin reveals a pared-back dashboard, constructed from carbon fibre. This houses a digital instrument panel in front of the driver, and a huge GPS race navigation system ahead of the passenger. 

 Many of the controls are housed on a unique steering wheel, while a huge hydraulic handbrake stands taller than the extended gear lever. Safety is provided by unique seats, harnesses and a roll cage - all certified by motorsport’s governing body, the FIA. Both driver and passenger benefit from their own in-built drinks system.

Price? No-one’s gone into that and likely as not, you’ll never know. Just settle on “a lot … and then some.”

Bamber and Hartley’s amazing hyper-racer – in your garage!

A car with a Kiwi motorsport connection is among a fleet of amazing design studies revealed by Porsche.

IMAGINE the sheer delicious madness of it – a road-legal version of the 330kmh-plus 919 Hybrid LMP1, the all-dominant force of recent international prototype sports car racing that Kiwis Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber took to Le Mans victories and world endurance championship titles.

It could have happened.

The idea for a ‘919 Street’, the version of Porsche’s technology masterpiece you could have used every day is disclosed in a new book, ‘Porsche Unseen’, which reveals just that car as one of 15 radical concepts from 2005 to 2015 that never came to be.

A look in into the inner workings of a place normally completely off-limits to public scrutiny, the famous maker’s design studio – Style Porsche - in Weissach, Germany, also unwraps concept cars that were developed as a source of inspiration for the company’s designers.

As today’s images show, the ‘919 Street’ reached the same point as the other subjects of the book, a one-to-one clay scale model.

 The styling concept has the same dimensions and wheelbase as the racing car that debuted in 2014 then dominated the long-distance circuit racing scene for four years, claiming three consecutive world championships and three straight victories in the arduous Le Mans 24 Hours in France.

Conceivably it would have retained the racer’s radical V4 two-litre petrol engine and advanced hybrid drivetrains that took it to 330kmh in race trim but considerably faster still in the ultimate track lap record-beating ‘Evo’ trim, that Porsche created after the car retired from LMP1 at the end of 2017.

Unchanged mechanically to the racing model, but simply with aerodynamic refinements beyond those allowed for LMP1, the Evo often beat Formula One lap times.

Whanganui-born Bamber and two team-mates achieved the 919 Hybrid’s debut Le Mans victory, in 2015, and his pal from childhood and the NZ motorsport scene Hartley, from Palmerston North, was in a crew that snared victory in the car on the French circuit in 2017 (he then achieved his second Le Mans, this year with Toyota).

Bamber and Hartley also teamed to take the 2017 World Endurance Championship in the car, a second such time for Hartley, who’d also been in the crew that claimed the 2015 world title.

The 919 Street wasn’t the only concept fuelled by Porsche’s rich racing spirit; there were two others created under the ‘Living Legends’ mantle.

The 917 Living Legend (above) was crafted by designers in 2013 as a modern interpretation of the legendary race car that had the same numerical designation.

 This one was created to mark the brand returning to LMP1 with the 919, but was kept under wraps until spring 2019, when the maker released the first photos as a way to celebrate the 917 race car’s 50th anniversary.

 The concept proper was presented to the public for the first time in the ‘Colours of Speed’ exhibition at the Porsche Museum last year.

There’s also the 906 Living Legend study (above) from 2005. As the name suggests, the Porsche 906 street-legal racing car from 1966 served as inspiration for the proportions and body design of this vision of a super sports car. The red contrasting front bonnet and the layout of the headlights are in the style of the famous car that won the 1966 Targa Floria, a daunting road race in Sicily since discontinued on safety grounds, in the hands of privateers Willy Mairesse and Gerhard Muller.

 Another featured concept that was never to be that also has racing links is a battery-propelled passenger van.

The maker identifies that the inspiration for the Vision Renndienst, a family-friendly “space shuttle” rendered in 2018, was a far more utilitarian Volkswagen van, used as a support vehicle by the Porsche factory racing team decades ago.

Envisaged to carry up to six people, Porsche’s concept has streamlined surfaces, minimalist headlights, a sporty front fascia and a long sloping roof. Designers also installed five-spoke alloy wheels and a traditional Porsche rear end with a full-width light bar.

Taycan: Faster than a 911, cheaper too

Pricing and spec of the first pure-electric Porsche you can buy has been released.

WHAT catch to a Porsche everyone will swoon over that outperforms the classic 911 and costs $20,000 less?

None at all assuming you’re also committed to the way of the future and are happy to drive a car relying purely on electricity.

Porsche has today released New Zealand market pricing and specifications for the Taycan, the brand’s first pure-electric car, ahead of fuller availability, expected to occur from the fourth quarter, though a small fleet of demonstrators are now touring Porsche centres (their word for ‘dealership).

The Taycan 4S, pricing from $203,900, the Taycan Turbo starting at $289,900 and the Taycan Turbo S kicking off from $366,900 means the entry edition represents handily below the cheapest 911, a $223,200 wallet hit, and will outgun it by 0.2 seconds in the 0-100kmh sprint, which the 4S achieves in a claimed 4 seconds flat. 

The Taycan 4S is powered by a 79.2kWh Performance Battery producing an output of 320kW/640Nm, and offering up-to 390kW on overboost. It provides a claimed 365 kilometres of range and is capable of a top speed of 250kmh. 

The 93.4kWh Performance Plus battery can also be optioned on the 4S (pricing yet to be announced), offering an additional 40kW and 10Nm in normal driving conditions, but stretching to a maximum of 420kW on overboost. Claimed driving range is 414km.

The middle-of-the-range Porsche Taycan Turbo achieves a 0-100 time of just 3.2 seconds from 460kW, and up-to 500kW on overboost, A range of 420km when the battery is fully charged is claimed, also a top speed of 260kmh.

The flagship Taycan Turbo S can generate up to 560 kW of overboost power in combination with Launch Control. Zero to 100 falls to 2.8s and has a range of 405 km when the battery is fully charged.

The Taycan is the first electric vehicle to utilise an 800 volt system, with every other electric vehicle having a 400 volt system. Not only does this allow the driver greater access to the performance available from the battery, but Porsche claims this will also help to improve recharging times.

All NZ-delivered Taycans come with a Mode 3 charging cable for use at AC public charging stations, while a 150kW on-board DC charger is standard for 400 volt charging stations.

New Zealand models gain a range of standard equipment in addition to worldwide standard specifications. 

Surround view, comfort access, lane change assist, lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, front seat ventilation, steering wheel heating, rear side airbags, electrically folding exterior mirrors, digital radio and privacy glazing are standard.

Additional equipment for the Taycan 4S includes 20-inch ‘Sport Aero’ wheels, metallic paint, front seat heating, 14-way electric comfort seats, Auto-dimming mirrors as well as the BOSE Surround Sound system.

Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S gain driving dynamic and comfort features like Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) Sport, four-zone Advanced Climate Control and ambient lighting.