Surely we’ve all daydreamed in idle moments about racing a top-flight Le Mans car. Judging by these diagrams Porsche has released of its 919 hybrid racer’s controls though, just operating the steering wheel might be a bit of a stretch for most of us.
There are no less than 24 buttons and switches on the front or the 919’s carbon wheel (although it’s actually more of a rectangle), and where you might reasonably expect two paddles on the back, there are six.
Here’s our fast-track guide to which button does what, so you’re fully prepared if you get that last-minute call-up from Porsche:
1. Boost button. The drivers had their say in which buttons go where, with the most important on the top outside edges within easily thumb-able reach. The big red one gives them an extra shot of power from the battery to help complete overtaking moves, but it needs to be used sparingly.
2. Increase/decrease traction control. Drivers can adjust how tight a hold the traction control has over both axles – the front wheels are driven by electric motor, the rears by a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo engine. The right-hand yellow and the blue buttons for more, the left for less. Same deal with the pink buttons to shift the brake bias front to rear.
3. Drink system. Driving a Le Mans car is thirsty work. Drivers sip a brew of electrolytes and carbs during the race.
4. Switch off. The fun has to end sometime, and this is how Porsche’s drivers put the 919 to sleep – hopefully after a successful 24 hours of racing.
5. Multi switches. And Mark Webber thought he’d left all mention of ‘Multi 21’ behind… Mixing and matching positions of the orange and green dials triggers different programmes for engine and fuel management. The same-sized red, yellow and blue dials nearby are shortcuts to presets for brake balance, traction control for a wet or dry track (handy at Le Mans, where the track’s long enough to be bone dry on one section and sopping wet at another) and settings for the hybrid system. To work the switches, Webber and co. have to take one hand off the wheel – probably more easily said than done at 200mph plus. These fluorescent switches actually glow in the dark – they’re lit by a black lamp above the driver’s head, like something from an episode of CSI La Sarthe.
6. Pit lane speed limiter. The closest thing the 919 has to cruise control.
7. Headlight flasher. To help scare cars from slower classes out of the way when they’re being lapped. One press triggers a burst of three flashes.
The drivers hook their hands through narrow openings coated in high-grip rubber to reach the six paddles behind. The middle ones are the gear-shifters (upshift on the right, down on the left), the lowest ones operate the clutch (the same either side, so it doesn’t matter if the wheel’s turned) and the topmost two are different. Top left is the boost, which does exactly the same job as the red button on the front, while top right is a kind of manual KERS lever. Pull this and the battery gets partially topped up via the magic of kinetic energy regeneration.
Learn more about the Porsche 919 Hybrid in our original story about the car here