Here’s What It’s Like To Drive A Porsche 911 With A 1980s F1 Engine
There’s a cliche in the automotive world that refers to particularly hardcore track-focused machines as a “race cars for the road.” This is seldom true, of course. The classic Porsche 911s from British company Lanzante are closer than most, though, as they’re powered by race-used McLaren TAG turbo V6 Formula One engines.
Lanzante has slowly been building these F1-powered 911s for a few years, but the one in this video is exceptionally cool. O’Gara Coach in Beverly Hills, California was responsible for the commission, enlisting Former F1 racer Stefan Johansson to give the car a custom paint scheme, as it uses the engine from his McLaren at the 1987 Austrian Grand Prix, where he finished in seventh place. The pairing makes sense, as he’s become an artist with a studio in Santa Monica since retiring from racing.
Lanzante reportedly charges $1.45 million for each of these builds. The powerplants, sourced straight from McLaren, had branding from the company Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG) – best known for the TAG-Heuer watch brand. However, Porsche actually developed the powerplant in-house.
Cosworth assisted in revising the F1 engine so that it would work in a road car. The tweaks included smaller turbos, decreased boost pressure, and an adjusted air-fuel ratio. The result was a powerplant reportedly making around 503 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque. In race trim, the mill would have made about 900 hp and roughly 1,200 hp during qualifying.
Johansson raced with a helmet featuring three leaves in different shades of dark green. He included these colors on this art car while also including blue, yellow, and red hues. Beyond the design, driving Lanzante’s 911 looks thrilling. The modified engine revs to 9,000 rpm and sounds terrific. Plus, flames shoot out of the exhaust. Modified Porsches are hardly rare, but packing a race-used F1 engine makes this one particularly special.
