Is the Porsche Carrera GT Too Dangerous?

[mick silver]

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/12/03/1330226/is-the-porsche-carrera-gt-too-dangerous?sdsrc=popbyskid ... Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes"CNN reports that the 600 horsepower Porsche Carrera GT is notoriously difficult to handle, even for professional drivers (http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/03/us/paul-walker-crash-car/). Known as the car actor Paul Walker was riding in when he died, there is no suggestion anyone was to blame for Walker's crash (http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/02/showbiz/paul-walker-death/) but Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson says drivers are on a 'knife edge' handling the car and described it as 'brutal and savage". 'It is a phenomena — mind blowingly good. Make a mistake — it bites your head off.' Todd Trimble, an exotic car mechanic in Las Vegas, says the Carrera GT is a 'very hard car to drive.' It's (a) pure racer's car. You really need to know what you're doing when you drive them. And a lot of people are learning the hard way.' The sports car has a top speed of 208 mph, a very high-revving V10 engine and more than 600 horsepower (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/porsche-carrera-gt-road-test) says Eddie Alterman, editor-and-chief of Car and Driver magazine. 'This was not a car for novices,' says Alterman. Having the engine in the middle of the car means it's more agile and turns more quickly than a car with the engine in the front or in the rear so it is able to change direction 'very quickly, very much like a race car,' adds Alterman. TheCarrera GT is also unusual because it has no electronic stability control (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/porsche-carrera-gt-first-drive-review-driving-impression-and-tech-page-2) which means that it's unforgiving with mistakes. 'Stability control is really good at correcting slides, keeping the car from getting out of shape,' says race car driver Randy Pobst. Alterman concludes that learning to drive a car like a Carrera GT can be extremely tricky. 'Every car is sort of different. And this one, especially since it had such a hair-trigger throttle, because it changed directions so quickly, there is a lot to learn (http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/paul-walker-dead-porsche-carrera-2872356).'"

[midnight rambler]

The Carrera GT is also unusual because it has no electronic stability control (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/porsche-carrera-gt-first-drive-review-driving-impression-and-tech-page-2)

There are tons of highly modified street cars that don't have any sort of stability control putting out much more hp than the Carrera GT, the vast majority of them lacking the race track quality suspension and brakes of the Carrera GT. These include everything from old and new Camaros and Mustangs to 1,000+ hp Dodge Vipers. My thinking is that the race track quality of the suspension and brakes as well as the mid-engine configuration would give the Carrera GT a definite handling edge over all these DIY street hot rods putting out far more than 610 hp.

[Glass]

well that is a car that was designed and built over 20 years ago as a super car to go against the Ferrari F40 and the Lambo Diablo. So it was built before a lot of that technology like the torque vectoring and LSD's. This vehicle suffered the same idiosyncracies as the other 911 based porsches due to the engine being out the back over the rear axle. So this is not strictly a "mid-engined" car in the normal sense of supercars.

911's from that era and through to the #996 production run. which I think was the next 911 model in the evolution of this car. Today they have a range of new tech for handling the torque and to counter the pendulum affect that the car suffers when cornering.

yes powerful car but not the only or the most that is out there and the cars are now safer than they have ever been.

[Horn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXHC1vJ7IvA

Does look a little too tight on the streets...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzYEeUmQvbQ

[EE_]

I heard the GT doesn't handle speed bumps very well at 90mph

[iOWNme]

There are tons of highly modified street cars that don't have any sort of stability control putting out much more hp than the Carrera GT, the vast majority of them lacking the race track quality suspension and brakes of the Carrera GT. These include everything from old and new Camaros and Mustangs to 1,000+ hp Dodge Vipers. My thinking is that the race track quality of the suspension and brakes as well as the mid-engine configuration would give the Carrera GT a definite handling edge over all these DIY street hot rods putting out far more than 610 hp.


I semi agree....

These days it is VERY EASY to have a street car that makes 1500hp. For people who dont know cars, it really is that easy. It only takes money, and no where near $450k. More like $50k. With technology and fabriactions skills you can put ANY suspensdion you want under ANY vehicle you want. You can have ANY electronics you want on your 69' Mustang = ABS, massive brakes, computer controlled shocks/air bags, crazy sway bars/anti-roll bars, massive tires (more tractions), etc.

In my opinion, and I have been working on/building cars for almost 20 years, this was most likely just an accident. You can die in a Honda that only makes 93hp going 27mph. Happens ALL THE TIME.

There are something like 40,000 deaths a year by car accidents in America alone. How many of those do you think were $450,000 cars that made 600+ hp?