Porsche confirms twin-turbo V8 for 2023 LMDh car

28th January 2022

Porsche has given us our latest glimpse at its LMDh sportscar contender, which is in the midst of testing now, along with a few more titbits of information. The big news? Contrast to the diminutive four-cylinder engine of the 919 Hybrid LMP1 car it succeeds, this car will run a twin-turbo V8 engine. The car will get its race debut in a year’s time, at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona.

Yes, the Williams Advanced Engineering-supplied standard-issue hybrid components, as stipulated in the LMDh guidelines, will be augmented to what Porsche describes as a “large-capacity twin-turbo V8 unit”. The engine has been designed to run on renewable fuels, thus reducing CO₂ and in race conditions will, in combination with the hybrid system, contribute to a system output of no more than 680PS (500kW) at any given time.

The rules that the engine must abide by are as follows: a weight (engine, intake and cooling) of no less than 180kg, revs of no more than 10,000rpm and decibels at no more than 110. Exactly where the motor sits within those stipulations isn’t stated. What we have heard for now from Urs Kratle, Overall Project Manager LMDh at Porsche Motorsport, is that “the V8-biturbo impressed us in every respect. We’re convinced that we’ve chosen precisely the right unit”. We’re also yet to see or hear anything about the Audi sister car, which will be twinned with this Porsche machine and presumably run the same V8 engine.

While the car going out testing is itself a big step, what’s perhaps more interesting is the first test of the team. As we’ve reported before, the cars will be fielded under the Porsche Penske Motorsport team, with the collaboration announced last year. It’s the first between the German manufacturer and the world-famous American race team since the successful RS Spyder of the mid-late 2000s. A car is only as good as the squad that’s running it and both are at this point getting tested properly for the first time.

“The rollout of the LMDh racing car was also the first track outing for Porsche Penske Motorsport,” Kuratle said.

“The squad worked well together right from the start. This shows a high level of professionalism in all areas. After all, the operational requirements for the safe running of a hybrid vehicle are very high. In the next outings we will focus on going deeper into the required processes and procedures.”