While certainly impressive on paper - 600hp, 205mph top speed, $448,300 dollars - all that pales in comparison to the intrinsic beauty of the car. Sleek like a jet fighter, low like a Formula 1 car, the Carrera GT blends the best performance in the world with some of the finest art any automotive craftsman has ever attached to four wheels. I'll leave the specs to other articles. But, like art, it doesn't really matter what you know, it just matters what you like. If I could break it down to just four words- "Looks fast, goes FAST!"
Touring the one story, multi acre, 50' high ceilinged factory adjacent to the visitor center truly contrasts modern assembly line technique with what the artisans of decades ago must have used. Cayennes were everywhere with chassis on conveyors both on the floor and hanging from the ceiling. Cayennes nearly fill this tremendous space, while just a single 12' wide and 90' straight line run of Carrera GT's is all that's needed to build one of the most advanced cars in the world. As this was a holiday for the technicians, we were able to get up close and personal with one of the most expensive automobile engines in the world, pallets full of magnesium wheels and all the other parts just waiting to come together. Santas' elves could only wish to work on toys like these!
After touring the factory we were more than ready for the high point of our visit - driving the Leipzig track! Seeming to wait just as anxiously for us, was a lineup of multiple C4S, Turbo, GT3, GT2, Carrera and Carrera S's. Our small group of just 7 drivers got to spend the next three hours driving a track modeled after parts of the best tracks in the world featuring the Laguna Seca Corkscrew, Suntory Corner, Curve di Lesmo and The Bus Stop. Tires squeeling through the turns, engine screaming down the straghts we did everything we could to keep up with the professional instuctors ahead of us. While we never did catch them, it sure was fun trying!
While we thought we were pretty fast, it was nothing at all compared to the rides we got from the pros in the Carrera GTs! Compared to similiar rides in GT2's we hadn't been moving at all! The Carrera GT was the "wolf" among the other sports car "sheep", coming up on the other cars like they were standing still and cornering without the slightest hint of oversteer. It's amazing how much throttle steering can be done with 600 horse power! Just imagine all four wheels spinning furiously while the driver drifts the car perfectly through a series connected turns.
But then you don't have to imagine it at all! While most porschephiles know about the Porsche Driving Experience at Birminghams' Barber Motorsports Park, you might not know that Porsche runs sports driving schools at a number of other tracks around the world - including the Carrera GTs' home track in Leipzig, Germany.
Take a look here:
Chris Huck has been selling Porsches at Pioneer Centres since 1997 and can be reached at 619-339-3537
Photos courtesty of Chris Huck and Porsche
Click here to view part three