DC match up
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04-17-2006, 07:44 PM
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DC match up
source: road and track.....
Talk about an odd couple. The Porsche Carrera GT is the pinnacle of the company's road-car vehicle development. It's a carbon-fiber-clad cruise missile with a shrieking V-10 under the hatch and the exotic looks to back up its supercar performance. It started life as a Le Mans-bound race car before being transformed into the road-going supercar it is today.
The 911 GT3 RSR, on the other hand, is all about the racetrack, where this purpose-built (but production-based) rocket is designed to do just one thing — win championships. The world's most successful GT-class racer owes its origins to the street 911 from which it has evolved.
Thanks to Mike Petersen, team principal of Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing and owner of both of these amazing cars, we get to see just how Porsche's fastest production car stacks up against its fastest 911 race car. This isn't a head-to-head comparison per se, but more an entertaining "what if" exercise highlighting the differences and similarities of these two hyper-Porsches.
Joining us for this unique test is Porsche factory driver Patrick Long, who, along with co-driver Jorg Bergmeister, earned the 2005 ALMS GT2 class driver, team and manufacturer championships aboard the No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing 911 GT3 RSR. To see how these two potent Porsches stack up, Patrick and I put them through their paces on the new 10-turn, 1.5-mile West Loop road course at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch outside of Las Vegas.
What we learned was fascinating and fun, enlightening and unexpected.
Porsche Carrera GT
Climbing into the Carrera GT, you're enveloped immediately in an atmosphere of supreme quality (and cost). The carbon-fiber monocoque is tastefully exposed along the doorsills, floor and center tunnel. Magnesium trims the center console, the foot pedals are aluminum, and tightly-drawn leather covers the Kevlar-shell seats, door panels and dash. Modern amenities abound, including electric windows/mirrors/door locks, climate control, a navigation system and premium stereo. All very Porsche, the interior cleverly combines high-tech with elegance, sport with civility.
On track, the 5.7-liter V-10 revs with an immediacy usually reserved for Formula 1 hardware, each dip of the throttle instantly launching the car forward with unapologetic ease. Shifts come fast and furious in the lower gears, as the engine's tiny clutch and minimal rotating mass allow it to rev to its 8000-rpm redline with freakish speed. Yet so smooth is its delivery and civilized the cabin that the GT accumulates speed at a deceptive rate — accelerating to 80 mph feels like 50, 130 mph more like 100.
Around Spring Mountain's relatively tight West Loop layout, the big GT makes quick work of the track's combination of 2nd- and 3rd-gear turns, esses, off-camber bends and short straights. Despite the V-10's prodigious power, the chassis' progressive, predictable nature makes approaching its limits a fascinating rather than a frightening affair — not unlike driving a big, expensive, 605-bhp Boxster.
On tighter turns, the long wheelbase and street-biased suspension tuning produce some mid-turn understeer, but it's nothing a little right foot finessing can't remedy. The Carrera GT responds immediately to throttle modulation, making it easy and satisfying to alter its cornering attitude. "You can really direct the weight over the front or the rear tires of the GT," says Patrick Long. "That allows you to drive a little more with your feet, controlling what's happening with the weight transfer." At higher speeds, the push largely disappears, while side-to-side transitions are exceptionally quick (especially for a 3000-lb. car), with little to no perceptible body roll. Performance from the ceramic-composite brakes is just as inspired. Once up to temperature, they deliver powerful, fade-free performance lap after lap.
Porsche Carrera GT
Price $440,000
Engine 5.7-liter 4-valve/cyl V-10
Horsepower 605 bhp
Transmission 6-speed manual
Weight 3040 lb
0–60 mph 3.6 sec
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
At the other end of the spectrum, the 911 GT3 RSR is a pure, unadulterated race car. While based on last year's Euro-only Type 996 GT3 RS road car, the limited-production RSR is not for public consumption (nor public roads), instead spending its entire existence at the track. The No. 31 Petersen/White Lightning car is perhaps the most evolved 911 on the planet, having won the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Petit Le Mans and last year's ALMS GT2 championship.
Other than the single close-fitting OMP racing seat, there's little that's comfortable or coddling about the RSR's cabin. It's bare, purposeful and highly efficient. The dash is vaguely reminiscent of a street 911's, though all the analog gauges have been replaced by a MoTec digital dash that displays everything from rpm, speed and lap times to temperatures, pressures and engine map settings. Also different is the 6-speed sequential transmission's long aluminum/carbon-fiber shift lever, which rises up high from the floor, putting it within easy reach of the steering wheel.
From the moment it fires up, all this car wants to do is drive as fast as its operator is capable. A racing instrument through and through, it represents the ultimate evolution of Dr. Porsche's rear-engine 911 philosophy (a 997-based GT3 RSR arrives in 2007). With 455 bhp pushing just 2420 lb. of mass, the RSR explodes onto the track in a fury of acceleration and flat-6 exhaust bark. All 8500 rpm arrive in an instant, necessitating a quick yank on the shifter to execute a perfect, no-lift upshift from the sequential box. Power continues unabated, the engine feeling like the most responsive, quickest-revving normally aspirated 911 ever built, which in fact, it is. Torque is strong in the lower reaches of the tach, but for serious duty, 7000-8500 rpm is where the magic happens.
An exceptionally planted, race-tuned chassis means there's neither understeer nor oversteer at turn-in, just plenty of grip from the Michelin racing slicks. Changing the RSR's mid-turn attitude is done with steering rather than throttle inputs. According to Long, "With this car, you're definitely driving it more with your hands (as opposed to your feet) because you've got a more stable platform to work with." Start to lean on it and the RSR leaps out of corners with the pavement-tearing traction only a 911 can deliver. Get into triple digits, however, and its downforce-producing undertray, rear wing and front splitter endow the RSR with high-speed stability untouched by any street-legal 911. Huge 15.0-in. front rotors and 6-piston calipers scrub speed effortlessly, accompanied by eye-watering deceleration and rock solid directional stability.
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
Price est $350,000
Engine 3.6-liter 4-valve/cyl flat-6
Horsepower 455 bhp
Transmission 6-speed racing sequential
Weight 2420 lb
0–60 mph est 3.5 sec
Which Was Faster?
Going into the day, no one was quite sure how it would turn out. Both cars would undoubtedly be fast, but few were prepared to predict which would top the time charts and by how much. As it was, the RSR was quicker, with Long logging a fastest lap some 9 seconds per lap faster than he did in the Carrera GT. Where did all that time come from? Race car vs. street car, that's where. As amazing as the GT is, and it's certainly as fast as street-legal cars come, it's simply not going to outperform one of the world's fastest Porsche race cars.
As Patrick astutely pointed out, "Remember, this RSR is built for the track. It has won every major endurance race and the ALMS championship. It's been dialed in for two years. The Carrera GT is the way it comes off the showroom floor, set up for a wide variety of drivers and driving conditions. It's impressive that we've gotten that close with the GT."
Our VBOX on-track data bears this out. Both cars accelerate at the same rate, brake at nearly the same rate (the RSR has a slight edge), but the race car's superior overall grip translates to better perform-ance in the corners. With its sticky racing slicks, less pitch-sensitive chassis and rear-engine layout, the RSR allows the driver to carry more speed entering turns and to get back on the throttle earlier exiting them. This produces higher corner speeds, a better launch out of turns and higher terminal velocities on the straights. Multiply that by 10 turns on a tight 1.5-mile course and there's your 9 seconds.
Give the GT more mechanical grip and the story could have turned out quite differently. Throughout the day, many wondered how it would have fared with some slight suspension tweaks and a set of racing slicks. Long was confident the Carrera GT could give the RSR a run for its money. "You lower that thing down, put some slicks on it and set it [the chassis] for more of a race trim — no material replacements other than the tires — and on a little bigger track, you're going to have a pretty serious fight." Hello, Michelin...?
America's Own Porsche Factory Driver
When I first met Patrick Long in 1999, the young racer was still just a teen, brought to the Road & Track offices by then-motorsports editor Joe Rusz (November 1999 issue). Along with fellow Californian Phil Giebler, Long had been living and competing in Europe as a factory kart driver, honing his skills in the cutthroat international karting ranks before moving up to the world of open-wheel race cars. Strong kart results overseas led to drives in British Formula Ford (2000/2001), the Formula Ford Festival (2001) and British Formula Renault (2002), where the American scored race wins in each.
In 2002, Long was one of the six Red Bull Formula 1 Driver Search finalists. During the Red Bull evaluations, he caught the attention of top Porsche motorsports personnel, who asked that he consider a career in sports cars rather than open-wheelers. Based on his Red Bull performance and a subsequent driver shootout at Porsche's Leipzig test facility, Long earned a position with the prestigious Porsche UPS Junior Team, the first American ever to do so.
Since then, Patrick, 24, has driven for Porsche throughout the world, competing in everything from the German and British Carrera Cup, Porsche Michelin Supercup and Le Mans Endurance Series to FIA GT, Grand-Am and, most recently, the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). His recent accomplishments include GT2 class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2004), the 12 Hours of Sebring (2005) and the 2005 ALMS GT2 class championship, driving with Jorg Bergmeister in the Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.
Porsche's American ace is already off to a quick start this season, having driven a Porsche-Crawford Daytona Prototype to 3rd overall in January's Rolex 24 at Daytona prior to this month's 12 Hours of Sebring. At Sebring and Petit Le Mans, he'll drive a Porsche-Penske RS Spyder, while for the remainder of the ALMS season, he'll be back behind the wheel of the Petersen/White Lightning GT3 RSR.— KW
so which is your pick???
Talk about an odd couple. The Porsche Carrera GT is the pinnacle of the company's road-car vehicle development. It's a carbon-fiber-clad cruise missile with a shrieking V-10 under the hatch and the exotic looks to back up its supercar performance. It started life as a Le Mans-bound race car before being transformed into the road-going supercar it is today.
The 911 GT3 RSR, on the other hand, is all about the racetrack, where this purpose-built (but production-based) rocket is designed to do just one thing — win championships. The world's most successful GT-class racer owes its origins to the street 911 from which it has evolved.
Thanks to Mike Petersen, team principal of Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing and owner of both of these amazing cars, we get to see just how Porsche's fastest production car stacks up against its fastest 911 race car. This isn't a head-to-head comparison per se, but more an entertaining "what if" exercise highlighting the differences and similarities of these two hyper-Porsches.
Joining us for this unique test is Porsche factory driver Patrick Long, who, along with co-driver Jorg Bergmeister, earned the 2005 ALMS GT2 class driver, team and manufacturer championships aboard the No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing 911 GT3 RSR. To see how these two potent Porsches stack up, Patrick and I put them through their paces on the new 10-turn, 1.5-mile West Loop road course at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch outside of Las Vegas.
What we learned was fascinating and fun, enlightening and unexpected.
Porsche Carrera GT
Climbing into the Carrera GT, you're enveloped immediately in an atmosphere of supreme quality (and cost). The carbon-fiber monocoque is tastefully exposed along the doorsills, floor and center tunnel. Magnesium trims the center console, the foot pedals are aluminum, and tightly-drawn leather covers the Kevlar-shell seats, door panels and dash. Modern amenities abound, including electric windows/mirrors/door locks, climate control, a navigation system and premium stereo. All very Porsche, the interior cleverly combines high-tech with elegance, sport with civility.
On track, the 5.7-liter V-10 revs with an immediacy usually reserved for Formula 1 hardware, each dip of the throttle instantly launching the car forward with unapologetic ease. Shifts come fast and furious in the lower gears, as the engine's tiny clutch and minimal rotating mass allow it to rev to its 8000-rpm redline with freakish speed. Yet so smooth is its delivery and civilized the cabin that the GT accumulates speed at a deceptive rate — accelerating to 80 mph feels like 50, 130 mph more like 100.
Around Spring Mountain's relatively tight West Loop layout, the big GT makes quick work of the track's combination of 2nd- and 3rd-gear turns, esses, off-camber bends and short straights. Despite the V-10's prodigious power, the chassis' progressive, predictable nature makes approaching its limits a fascinating rather than a frightening affair — not unlike driving a big, expensive, 605-bhp Boxster.
On tighter turns, the long wheelbase and street-biased suspension tuning produce some mid-turn understeer, but it's nothing a little right foot finessing can't remedy. The Carrera GT responds immediately to throttle modulation, making it easy and satisfying to alter its cornering attitude. "You can really direct the weight over the front or the rear tires of the GT," says Patrick Long. "That allows you to drive a little more with your feet, controlling what's happening with the weight transfer." At higher speeds, the push largely disappears, while side-to-side transitions are exceptionally quick (especially for a 3000-lb. car), with little to no perceptible body roll. Performance from the ceramic-composite brakes is just as inspired. Once up to temperature, they deliver powerful, fade-free performance lap after lap.
Porsche Carrera GT
Price $440,000
Engine 5.7-liter 4-valve/cyl V-10
Horsepower 605 bhp
Transmission 6-speed manual
Weight 3040 lb
0–60 mph 3.6 sec
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
At the other end of the spectrum, the 911 GT3 RSR is a pure, unadulterated race car. While based on last year's Euro-only Type 996 GT3 RS road car, the limited-production RSR is not for public consumption (nor public roads), instead spending its entire existence at the track. The No. 31 Petersen/White Lightning car is perhaps the most evolved 911 on the planet, having won the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Petit Le Mans and last year's ALMS GT2 championship.
Other than the single close-fitting OMP racing seat, there's little that's comfortable or coddling about the RSR's cabin. It's bare, purposeful and highly efficient. The dash is vaguely reminiscent of a street 911's, though all the analog gauges have been replaced by a MoTec digital dash that displays everything from rpm, speed and lap times to temperatures, pressures and engine map settings. Also different is the 6-speed sequential transmission's long aluminum/carbon-fiber shift lever, which rises up high from the floor, putting it within easy reach of the steering wheel.
From the moment it fires up, all this car wants to do is drive as fast as its operator is capable. A racing instrument through and through, it represents the ultimate evolution of Dr. Porsche's rear-engine 911 philosophy (a 997-based GT3 RSR arrives in 2007). With 455 bhp pushing just 2420 lb. of mass, the RSR explodes onto the track in a fury of acceleration and flat-6 exhaust bark. All 8500 rpm arrive in an instant, necessitating a quick yank on the shifter to execute a perfect, no-lift upshift from the sequential box. Power continues unabated, the engine feeling like the most responsive, quickest-revving normally aspirated 911 ever built, which in fact, it is. Torque is strong in the lower reaches of the tach, but for serious duty, 7000-8500 rpm is where the magic happens.
An exceptionally planted, race-tuned chassis means there's neither understeer nor oversteer at turn-in, just plenty of grip from the Michelin racing slicks. Changing the RSR's mid-turn attitude is done with steering rather than throttle inputs. According to Long, "With this car, you're definitely driving it more with your hands (as opposed to your feet) because you've got a more stable platform to work with." Start to lean on it and the RSR leaps out of corners with the pavement-tearing traction only a 911 can deliver. Get into triple digits, however, and its downforce-producing undertray, rear wing and front splitter endow the RSR with high-speed stability untouched by any street-legal 911. Huge 15.0-in. front rotors and 6-piston calipers scrub speed effortlessly, accompanied by eye-watering deceleration and rock solid directional stability.
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
Price est $350,000
Engine 3.6-liter 4-valve/cyl flat-6
Horsepower 455 bhp
Transmission 6-speed racing sequential
Weight 2420 lb
0–60 mph est 3.5 sec
Which Was Faster?
Going into the day, no one was quite sure how it would turn out. Both cars would undoubtedly be fast, but few were prepared to predict which would top the time charts and by how much. As it was, the RSR was quicker, with Long logging a fastest lap some 9 seconds per lap faster than he did in the Carrera GT. Where did all that time come from? Race car vs. street car, that's where. As amazing as the GT is, and it's certainly as fast as street-legal cars come, it's simply not going to outperform one of the world's fastest Porsche race cars.
As Patrick astutely pointed out, "Remember, this RSR is built for the track. It has won every major endurance race and the ALMS championship. It's been dialed in for two years. The Carrera GT is the way it comes off the showroom floor, set up for a wide variety of drivers and driving conditions. It's impressive that we've gotten that close with the GT."
Our VBOX on-track data bears this out. Both cars accelerate at the same rate, brake at nearly the same rate (the RSR has a slight edge), but the race car's superior overall grip translates to better perform-ance in the corners. With its sticky racing slicks, less pitch-sensitive chassis and rear-engine layout, the RSR allows the driver to carry more speed entering turns and to get back on the throttle earlier exiting them. This produces higher corner speeds, a better launch out of turns and higher terminal velocities on the straights. Multiply that by 10 turns on a tight 1.5-mile course and there's your 9 seconds.
Give the GT more mechanical grip and the story could have turned out quite differently. Throughout the day, many wondered how it would have fared with some slight suspension tweaks and a set of racing slicks. Long was confident the Carrera GT could give the RSR a run for its money. "You lower that thing down, put some slicks on it and set it [the chassis] for more of a race trim — no material replacements other than the tires — and on a little bigger track, you're going to have a pretty serious fight." Hello, Michelin...?
America's Own Porsche Factory Driver
When I first met Patrick Long in 1999, the young racer was still just a teen, brought to the Road & Track offices by then-motorsports editor Joe Rusz (November 1999 issue). Along with fellow Californian Phil Giebler, Long had been living and competing in Europe as a factory kart driver, honing his skills in the cutthroat international karting ranks before moving up to the world of open-wheel race cars. Strong kart results overseas led to drives in British Formula Ford (2000/2001), the Formula Ford Festival (2001) and British Formula Renault (2002), where the American scored race wins in each.
In 2002, Long was one of the six Red Bull Formula 1 Driver Search finalists. During the Red Bull evaluations, he caught the attention of top Porsche motorsports personnel, who asked that he consider a career in sports cars rather than open-wheelers. Based on his Red Bull performance and a subsequent driver shootout at Porsche's Leipzig test facility, Long earned a position with the prestigious Porsche UPS Junior Team, the first American ever to do so.
Since then, Patrick, 24, has driven for Porsche throughout the world, competing in everything from the German and British Carrera Cup, Porsche Michelin Supercup and Le Mans Endurance Series to FIA GT, Grand-Am and, most recently, the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). His recent accomplishments include GT2 class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2004), the 12 Hours of Sebring (2005) and the 2005 ALMS GT2 class championship, driving with Jorg Bergmeister in the Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.
Porsche's American ace is already off to a quick start this season, having driven a Porsche-Crawford Daytona Prototype to 3rd overall in January's Rolex 24 at Daytona prior to this month's 12 Hours of Sebring. At Sebring and Petit Le Mans, he'll drive a Porsche-Penske RS Spyder, while for the remainder of the ALMS season, he'll be back behind the wheel of the Petersen/White Lightning GT3 RSR.— KW
so which is your pick???
