Porsche: Ice-cold top performance in Finland 🎥
EXPERIMENTATION With the GT4 e-performance, Porsche gained further insights for the motorsport of the future in the icy wilderness of Scandinavia. The 800 kW electric drive provided plenty of driving pleasure on snow and ice.
Drifting between the fir trees of a remote forest in Finland in a fully electric test vehicle with 800 kW (1088 hp) - that is exactly what Oliver Schwab and Björn Förster, who are responsible for the Porsche GT4 e-performance development program, had in mind. In Levi, around 170 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, the two have overseen another exploratory mission for the Porsche customer racing of tomorrow.
Tests in extreme cold
The GT4 e-performance project led by Schwab started at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the summer of 2022 and then continued in Europe, the USA and Asia. Before arriving in Australia in March, in time for demo runs as part of the third round of the current Formula 1 season, the car made a detour to northern Finland to undergo some testing in the extreme cold.
These took place as part of the Porsche Ice Experience. The site in Levi covers an area of 422,000 square meters and offers optimal opportunities in two training areas with 32 different handling tracks. A fleet of 123 different Porsche models is available for 1350 participants, who come from all over the world for a total of 36 events.
Spikes and longer suspension travel
To prepare the GT4 e-Performance for such an environment, it was fitted with spike winter tires and longer suspension travel to increase wheel arch clearance and ground clearance. The central air intake was closed due to the constantly low outside temperatures, while the chassis was fitted with aluminum underbody protection. Otherwise, the GT4 e-Performance did not require any modifications. The same oil-cooled electric drivetrain with an output of 800 kW (1088 hp) was used in the qualifying configuration.
