The Porsche Carrera GT- Engineering Excellence and Pure Porn. A #blogpost by Gurminder Bains

Hi, I’m Gurminder and you’ve got a problem that I can sort. You wanna know what your problem is? You’ve spent too much time reading mediocre drivel, thinking that its good. It’s a tragic story, no one has taken the time to help you learn about the things you and I love, cars. Now because I’m nice, I’m going to help you out, so sit back relax and read.

It’s been too long since I returned to writing, I’ve been in a spot of bother, debating what topics to pursue and being stuck in the struggle that is writers block. However, while I was away I fell in love with Porsches, I’ve always been a huge Porsche fan as my uncles have owned various Porsches over the years and still do own their Porsches. But its until recently I’ve really appreciated Porsches, initially I fell for the latest iteration of the GT3 RS, in Ultraviolet Purple that car leaves me utterly speechless. My latest Porsche crush is thanks to car YouTubers MrJWW and Salomondrin, the latter of those two actually owns the car that I’m in love with. That car is the Porsche Carrera GT and I’m going to tell you why it is my favourite car and what makes it so special.

The History

You can trace back to the early origins of the Carrera GT, with the 911 GT1 where in 1998, the 911 GT1 was due for a redesign, originally the new 911 GT1 was deemed to use a twin turbocharged flat six. However, Porsche later designed the car to use a V10, the V10 unit was supposed to be used by the Footwork Formula One team back in the early 1990’s. However, Porsche shelved the project and saved it for the 911 GT1, the original V10 was around 5.5L although the version in the new 911 GT1 was a 5.7L. Once the car had been built it was then tested, however, testing was cancelled just after two days due to Porsche wanting to pursue the creation of the Cayenne in conjunction with VW and Audi. Another reason why testing was cancelled is because the Audi chairman at the time Ferdinand Piech didn’t want any competition from Porsche on the track as Audi had just developed their Audi R8 Le Mans car (Not to be confused with the Audi R8 road car).

So, it seemed like a short lived life for Porsche’s V10 and their aims of making a 911 GT1 successor. Although, part of that was not true, you see Porsche did keep a 5.5L version the V10 engine ‘on the shelf’. When the Paris Motor Show came round in 2000, when yours truly was nearing the age of one, Porsche didn’t have a centre piece which would attract people to their stand, so Porsche designed a two seat supercar that was low and wide and took the old 5.5L V10 and shoved it into the car, and called it the Porsche Carrera GT concept. The tactic of a last minute design with an 8-year-old engine, paid off really rather well. The Porsche stand was practically swarmed with journalists asking Porsche officials when the car would be in production, of course Porsche officials had no idea as they had no intention of creating the car. Despite Porsches intentions they realised that the sales from the Porsche Cayenne were really raking in the green, therefore the Carrera GT production car project was initiated. The rest is simply history.

So, you’ve had what I hope was a brief history lesson on the Carrera GT, now I think we’ll look at the engineering of the Carrera GT, the thing that gets my blood pumping.

The Engine

As I mentioned before that 8-year-old Formula one engine was originally a 5.5L, then converted into a 5.7L for the 911 GT1 successor and then scrapped all together. But that’s not where it ended the engine was then resurrected as 5.5L for the Carrera GT concept. Funnily enough production car reverted the V10 back to its 5.7L guise. The numbers for a car that was produced from 2003-2007 are staggering. In comparison to the concept car here are the numbers.

Porsche Carrera GT Concept
Engine: 5.5L V10 angled at 68°
Horsepower: 549 BHP
Torque: 443 lb-ft
0-60: 4.0 seconds
Top Speed: 205 MPH
Weight: 1250 KG
Gearbox: Six Speed Manual
Drivetrain: RWD

Porsche Carrera GT Production Car
Engine: 5.7L V10 angled at 68°
Horsepower: 612 BHP
Torque: 435 lb-ft
0-60: Quoted: 3.9 seconds Tested: 3.5 seconds
Top Speed: 205 MPH
Weight: 1,427 KG
Gearbox: Six Speed Manual
Drivetrain: RWD

The Gearbox and Clutch

The gearbox is possibly one of the most talked about parts of the Carrera GT as there are no paddles, like the Enzo and there is no PRND marked on a gear stick like the McLaren SLR. The Carrera GT as I’m sure you’re aware of used six speed manual transmission, a manual in a supercar with over 600 BHP is simply unheard of today. Another cool thing about the Carrera GT is its gear knob which is made from real birch and ash, this was to pay homage to the Porsche 917 which used a birch and ash gear knob.

Amongst the transmission of the Carrera GT there is the clutch, which is apparently one of the most difficult clutches to use although it supposed to make the drivers life easier. If you search on YouTube “Carrera GT stall” you’ll find countless videos of owners and valet’s stalling the Carrera GT. The reasoning behind the Porsches difficult clutch is that it was the world’s first ceramic clutch (Or as Porsche calls it Porsche Carbon Ceramic Clutch or PCCC for short).

The way the clutch works is that in a conventional manual car you have to find the ‘biting point’ and then slowly release the clutch whilst applying pressure on the throttle, in the Carrera GT, Porsche fitted the car with a ‘Auto Throttle’ to help you with setting off. All the driver has to do is release the clutch slowly and the car will start rolling forward, the accelerator pedal should only be applied once your foot is completely off the clutch. Bearing this in mind when on the road the Carrera GT should feel like every other manual car when changing gear. However, owners of the Carrera GT do have to be careful as burning up one of the PCCC clutches costs around £23,000 minus labour.

The Chassis

The Carrera GT was the first ever production car to use a carbon fibre reinforced monocoque chassis, this type of chassis is now commonly found in all McLaren super cars ranging from the 540C to the P1. The Carrera GT’s monocoque was derived from the 911 GT1 and weighs just 99 KG, however even though it’s a targa top car don’t let it fool you from the fact that Porsche claims that the Carrera GT is stiffer than the 911 RSR.

The Brakes and Suspension

Finally, Carrera GT’s brakes are made of silicon carbide and can now be found in practically any modern Porsche labelled as PCCB or Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes. As for the callipers they’re eight piston callipers at the front and four piston callipers at the rear. Plenty of stopping power for a Carrera GT.

The suspension of the Carrera GT is just as exquisite as the rest of the car with independent double wishbone suspension at the front and the rear. Coil overs with gas powered shocks all round. The rear spring and shock units use the push rod method. The combined effect of the suspension is apparently rather harsh and exactly like a race car according to Doug DeMuro.

Why is it Special?

So you’re probably sitting there wondering, you’ve told me the history and the engineering but you’ve still not told me why the hell the Carrera GT is so great. Well fear not as it’s now time for me to talk about why it’s so great

Purity. The 2016 Porsche 911 R was praised for sending the 911 back to a time where cars were simpler and all about the driving experience. Well I believe that the Carrera GT is the last of the last of the breed of proper supercars where it was all about the driving experience. Supercars these days have electronic nannies and hybrid power, which by no means I have a downer on, supercars have become so easy to live with, modern day supercar drivers don’t understand the sacrifices that people had to make in order to drive a car they nearly paid half a million quid for. For example, the McLaren 720S is the latest thoroughbred to be unleashed into the supercar world, it would easily mince a Carrera GT in every aspect however, I think that McLaren have messed up again where they messed up with the MP4-12C the fact that it lacks character. It seems to be the same story for Ferrari as well, the only supercar manufacturer that comes relatively close is the Lamborghini Huracan for the sense of occasion. I feel like modern day supercars are designed for the sole purpose of getting likes on social media.

That’s where the Carrera GT is solely different, its understated lines and ‘boring grey paintwork’ make it look like any other Porsche, only a real car nut would give you the nod of appreciation for the Carrera GT. Furthermore, I find it absolutely ridiculous that the biggest and closest button to the driver is to turn the bloody traction control off. The noise of the V10 with its 8,400RPM redline and lack of ESC in the Carrera GT also means that it’s without its lack of supercar drama as the amount of high profile accidents, for example Pau… We’ll gloss over that. The Carrera GT isn’t about how you can go 0.003 seconds faster around corners or showboating around the city. The Carrera GT is about mixing all of the best emotions people love about cars and bringing them together in a package that is so exquisite and so understated that people don’t really understand the Carrera GT until they’ve experienced being around one or in one.

That is why the Carrera GT is my favourite car and why it should be regarded as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, because it’s understatedly bonkers. Quite like myself actually.

You’ve now been enlightened.

Gurminder Bains.