A GTL Workshop production

POWER & GLORY

You
get
WR
ITT
can PHIL E EN BY:
LMO
March 2009 Issue No. One www.gtlw.co.uk
pelm in R
ore contact E
CRE ( at) v w
eriz ith Phi
R E S AT I O N on.n l at
EAR et
EDI C
TIN H
G G
WO TL
RKS
HO
P
The Porsche 906,
was Porsches

The Porsche 906 response to the

success of the light,
agile Ferrari V6
Dino.

THE VARIATIONS

THE PORSCHE 906 & 906/E

The Porsche 906 was designed as a street-legal
tubular space framed fiberglass racecar. Also
called the Carrera 6, it was Porsches response
to the success of the light, agile Ferrari V6
Dino winning over the heavier, steel framed
Porsche 904s.
Continued on Page 2
The classic Porsche 906 also known as Carrera 6

THE LONGTAIL
For the 1966 Le Mans, Porsche created the
906 Langheck (Longtail). The idea was to
further improve the aerodynamics of the car
to enable even higher top speeds down the
3.6mi Mulsanne straight.
Continued on Page 4

Light, agile reliable. A perfect Porsche. Aircooled tradition

THE 906/8 WITH A FLAT 8

The 906/8 was an attempt by Porsche to The base 906 in
gather some outright wins over the V8/V12 P&G is a dream to
Ferraris, especially at tracks like Targa Floria
drive. You will not
and the Nurburgring.
Continued on Page 5 forget the engine is
behind you, but the
effect is far less than
the 911 or even 914.

Power&Glory brochures are created by the GTLWorkshop mod team | ask@flyingpig.info | www.gtlw.co.uk
POWER & GLORY !
1967 906E and a 906: note the revised nose and lack of dive planes on the front of this particular 906E
THE PORSCHE 906 & 906/E
The Porsche 906 was designed as a
street-legal tubular space framed fiberglass
racecar. Also called the Carrera 6, it was
Porsches response to the success of the
light, agile Ferrari V6 Dino winning over
the heavier, steel framed Porsche 904s.
Because of the construction methodology,
the 906 was approximately 250lbs (113kg)
lighter than the 904. Another innovation for
the 906 was the wind tunnel testing Porsche
used to refine the shape of the car, creating
a very slippery shape that allowed very high
top speeds for a 2-liter car. Even the engine
in the rear was covered in Plexiglas to cheat
the wind.
The engine of the 906 was very
similar in overall design to the air-cooled
911 flat-6, but was substantially lighter due
to extensive use of magnesium and
aluminum alloys. Sixty-five Porsche 906
were built in 1966, and the sale of 50 to
privateers allowed the homologation to Gr
4. The carbureted 2-liter engines produced
220 HP and 155 ft-lbs torque. On the track,
the 906 was equally matched with the Dino,
but the reliability and sheer number of 906
often resulted in victory for Porsche.
Power&Glory brochures are created by the GTLWorkshop mod team | ask@flyingpig.info | www.gtlw.co.uk
PAGE 2
Details, details...
After the construction of the initial fifty
906 for homologation, Porsche began
producing a series of variants to improve
performance. The 906E model was raced On the track,
only by Porsche, and used a Bosch fuel- the 906 was
injected 2-liter engine for better throttle equally matched
control, and because the Bosch was a bit with the Dino,
easier to tune and maintain. Power is but the reliability
virtually unchanged at 225 HP and 155ft-
and sheer
lbs torque.
The 906/8 was another engine variant
number of 906
covered in greater detail in its own section. often resulted in
Porsche also experimented with a number victory for
of aerodynamic variants for the 906. The Porsche.
906 Langheck was the most obvious aero
variant, and is covered in detail in its own
section. Less obvious were the nose
variations, which included short and long
noses, with and without dive planes. These
nose variations can be seen in conjunction
with all the different 906 engine variants. A
quick look at the car in the vehicle selection
showroom will show you the exact
configuration of the car you have selected.
POWER & GLORY! PAGE 3

Driving the 906.

Light, agile, reliable.
My primary test track for the 906s is relative to its competitors in P&G like the
Watkins Glen. A great track, and the Corvette L88, GT40, and Cobra 427.
uneven pavement and camber changes test Laptime is gained by eliminating any
both the driver and the cars suspension. unnecessary steering/tire scrub and
My initial impression of the 906 was executing a precise
good, but way too much understeer. The line. Against
default P&G setup is accurate to the monster-motor cars,
Porsche factory setup, and I think Porsche you will have to
didnt want those gentleman drivers drive very creatively
buying the privateer cars to immediately to not get bottled up
spin and wreck the cars! The good news is in the corners.
the 906 offers a ton of setup options to tune
the cars handling to the drivers preference.
A couple of wrench turns later and I found DETAILS, DETAILS...
the base 906 a dream to drive, with very You do need
to pay attention to
high cornering speeds and near neutral The office is minimalist, the focus is on driving.
car details (especially
behavior.
The base 906 in P&G is a dream to the nose of the 906)
drive. Most drivers will probably find the in the selection of your car because the aero
front and rear camber needs adjustment, configuration does make a difference. This
is true for all the P&G cars, as the
but with this small change the car exhibits
showroom will tell you this car has brake
very high cornering speeds and near neutral The 906 is a low
behavior. You will not forget the engine is cooling, this car has a longer nose, and this
behind you in a 906, but the effect is far less car has a different HP curve. HP momentum
than the 911 or even 914. To my mind this As an example, in the course of car relative to its
is actually an advantage as the 906 responds testing the 906s I really dialed in the setup competitors in
to maximize speed on one key high-speed P&G like the
nicely with lift-throttle oversteer, allowing
mid-corner corrections. The 906 is also easy corner. A few days later I was practicing Corvette L88,
again with my setup, but now I was getting
on the tires, at least relative to some of the
a hint of apex understeer that was costing
GT40, and
tire-shredding big-block cars. Cobra 427.
me ~0.3sec/lap. I spent a fair amount of
The adjustability of the 906s
time pondering what I needed to adjust,
gearbox does allow you to tune the gears for
the track, which is necessary given you must when I remembered Id changed cars Laptime is
keep the revs high to maximize what little because I liked the red one more than the gained by
power you have. The 906s brakes are white one. I looked back at the eliminating any
showroom and saw the white car had dive unnecessary
about average for a 1966 car. I did
planes and the red one did not! This is not
experience some overheating in the 906 steering/tire
when the ambient temperature the Glen at to say either car is superior, but to point out
the different 906 varients can drive
scrub and
95F (35C). This forced me to shift at
differently and require slightly different executing a
~8000rpm, which cost me a little laptime.
The 906 is a low HP momentum car setups. precise line.

Power&Glory brochures are created by the GTLWorkshop mod team | ask@flyingpig.info | www.gtlw.co.uk
POWER & GLORY!
The 1966 LeMans works cars.
906LH (LangHeck/LongTail)
A LONG TAIL VARIATION FOR THE 1966 CHICANELESS LE MANS
906LH (LANGHECK / LONGTAIL)
For the 1966 Le Mans, Porsche
created the 906 Langheck (Longtail).
The idea was to further improve the
aerodynamics of the car to enable
even higher top speeds down the
3.6mi Mulsanne straight. In addition
to the obviously long tail and a Bosch
fuel-injected 2-liter engine, the nose
of the car was lengthened and an
under shield was fitted. The initial
practice sessions showed the car was
very unstable due to rear-end lift, and
after some experimentation Porsche
found the addition of two small
spoilers on the tail produced
satisfactory balance. A side benefit of
this aero tuning on the Longtail was
the improvement of fuel mileage at
Le Mans, by ~12% over the standard
906, regardless the fact that the
engine had slightly worse fuel
consumption.
The long tail gives around 10km/h more top speed...
Power&Glory brochures are created by the GTLWorkshop mod team | ask@flyingpig.info | www.gtlw.co.uk
DRIVING THE LONGTAIL
While the top speed is definitely
improved over the 906, the Longtail
makes this car more than a handful.
The rear tries to come around, well,
nearly everywhere. On low-speed
corners you could feel the weight of
the tail, while on high-speed corners
the Longtail was getting aero-lift. I
spent quite a bit of time trying to find
a good setup for the Longtail, and I
never found a perfect one. Raising
the front height a bit, using less
negative camber at the front, using
more front rebound damping,
lowering the rear rebound damping
and setting the braking bias towards
the front was helpful and I could
stabilize the rear (eventually), but the
cost was the graceful cornering of the
906. I was always aware of how long
and heavy the tail was.
PAGE 4
One thing that Aristotelis
reminded me was the Le Mans layout
in 1966 had fewer corners than the
VLM Le Mans layout I was using.
The track in 1966 was basically
straight from the Maison Blanche
past start-finish to the Dunlop Curve.
The Ford Chicane was added to the
track in 1968, and the Porsche
Curves were added in 71-72. With a
straighter track, aero efficiency
becomes critical. Porsche went with
the Longtail in 1966 to decrease
laptime over the 906, and because the
906/8s flat-8 was not considered
reliable enough for the 24. For my
money, Id take a 906E and sacrifice a
few MPH of top speed for the better
handling and less chance of a spin.
Those 1966 Le Mans Porsche factory
drivers must have been a gutsy
bunch!
...while the rear wings limit aero lift
 POWER & GLORY!
More muscle.
The 906/8 (8 cylinder over 2 liter engine)
A TIMID ATTACK TO THE OVER 2 LITER PROTOTYPE CLASS
The 906/8 was an attempt by
Porsche to gather some outright wins
over the V8/V12 Ferraris, especially
at tracks like Targa Florio and the
Nurburgring. The 906/8 used a
lightweight flat-8 2.2-liter Grand Prix
engine producing 250 HP and 182ft-
lbs torque. Porsche considered racing
the 906/8 in 1966, but decided the
engines reliability was insufficient.
Unfortunately the four 906/8 built
did not have the success Porsche
expected. For example, while the
906/8 of Jochen Rindt and Nino
Vaccarella qualified 3rd for the 1966
1000km Nurburgring race, the car
raced no higher than 8th and retired
just past the mark with no brakes.
The 906/8 has better power
than the other 906 cars, but its
certainly not a muscle car. At the
Glen, the 906/8 was a better match
The 906/8 prototype had big potential...
Power&Glory brochures are created by the GTLWorkshop mod team | ask@flyingpig.info | www.gtlw.co.uk
for the GT40s than the 906. While
Porsche did not race the 906/8 at Le
Mans due to reliability concerns, I
did not have any engine trouble with
the car. Of course, I did not run one
for 24 hours!
DRIVING THE 906/8 PROTOTYPE
In my testing, the 906/8 has
significantly better power than the
other 906 cars. Its not a muscle car,
and it certainly does not sound like a
muscle car. The flat-8 shrieks to its
9000rpm redline, reminding you that
its F1 derived and not some
overweight American lump! In fact,
the low weight of the engine meant
handling of the car is hardly affected.
In many respects, the 906/8 was the
pinnacle of the 906 series. If for no
other reason, you need to drive it to
hear the ripping flat-8. At the Glen,
the 906/8 is a better match for the
PAGE 5
GT40s than the 906, able to explode
off the corners and hold on (mostly)
on the straights. Just like in the 906,
you must keep the revs high in the
906/8.
Although the 906/8 was very
successful, for Porsche it was only a
test prototype. A way to understand
the potential of the team. As a matter
of fact, in the following years,
Porsche would make a big impact in
closed wheels racing, releasing highly
successful cars like the 910, 907, 908
and finally the absolute sportscar
legend, the mighty 917.
Car Trap Speed mph/kph
906 164/264
906E 166/267
906LH 170/274
906/8 174/280
...but the engine was difficult to tune.
The Porsche 906
The Porsche 906 or
Carrera 6, the last street-
legal racing car from
Porsche.

Accurately recreated
from the GTL Workshop
in the
Power&Glory v2.0 mod.

You wont fine such painstaking attention to detail, in any other mod.

Check our website and official forums over at http://srmz.net/index.php?showforum=141 for more
driving tips, setups and time attack competitions.

W R IT T E N
POWER & GLORY
BY:
PH
Y ou ca n ge IL E LM O R E
t in co nt ac
pe lm or e (a t w it h Ph il
t) ve ri zo n. at
ne t
M an ua l cr
ea te d by G
TL WORK March 2009 Issue No. One
SH O P