“
We signed off the chassis setting in October 2002
,” Walter told us. “
The concept of the Carrera GT is close to that of a racecar, so it is not easy to handle on the limit. A racing tyre is sharp on the limit and the point it recovers from a slide is also sharp. We had to make the car handle a little bit more softly on the limit for customers but without sacrificing too much of the handling
.”
“The power sliding is really only in second and third gear bends
,” Walter explained. “At higher speeds in higher gears, you have so much downforce, it is not an issue in the dry. At 300km/h you have 400kg of downforce on the car, 70 percent of that is on the rear axle. The rear wing deploys at 120km/h (75mph).
”
“The parameters we set for the tyres were very critical, so we decided just to work with just one supplier, in this case Michelin
,” Walter continued. “They supplied over 10 prototype tyres before we were happy, but they are absolutely brilliant now
,” he said. “These are quite unique tyres as they have a harder compound on the outer third of the read and wear evenly across the tread, which shows the suspension set up is perfect and even have a good wear rate so you will probably get 10,000km out of a set in normal driving. They even lasted 2,000km in testing at the Nurburgring!
”
When the first customers take delivery next year, they will be getting a car that has been designed and crafted like no other we have ever seen. The amount of development work that has gone into the Carrera GT and the new technologies, some of them pioneering, is an industry first.
Cars are meant to be driven, and while we can respect owners who enter concours and others who put their cars into museums and private collections, it would be a shame if all the work the development team put into making this car drive so well is not experienced on a regular basis.
This is more so the case with the Carrera GT because while we admired the race quality of its component design and the show quality of its execution, it is one of the few cars in recent years that has really excited us. We make no bones about the fact that we came away from the technical day at Weissach back in the spring with a burning desire to drive this car.
Now, after many miles behind the wheel on road and test track, we can attest to the fact that Porsche’s Carrera GT is a rolling showcase of the very best in design, materials and dynamic excellence. In our experience, it is also the best car of this type ever in terms of driving qualities. Far more than just another supercar, the Carrera GT deserves to be used and appreciated for the towering achievement that it is.
Copyright © Ian Kuah 2004
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