Porsche Carrera GT

For Porsche enthusiasts, this car is "the business."

Porsche first showed the high performance Carrera GT at the 2000 Paris Show and based on positive public reaction, announced earlier this year that it would go into production but only 1000 units will be built! Having made the transition from concept to future production car, the Carrera GT will produce more than 400kW from its 5.5 litre V10 motor when it hits the showroom some time in 2003.

The Porsche literature predictably understates the stature of the vehicle - "With the Carrera GT we want to do more than just demonstrate our technical competence in the sports car segment. This vehicle also mirrors the strength, the dynamic and the self-confidence of the company and the Porsche brand".

The Carrera GT is more than that, and rumours of the impending price - AU$600,000 - may indicate just how special and thoroughbred this car will be - Porsche is aiming at Ferrari with this car.

The Carrera GT is pure racing car - an all new 5.5 litre V10 engine developed by Porsche Motorsport producing 410 kW (558 hp) gives the Carrera GT a top speed of 330 km/h plus! The engine spins to 8200rpm, thanks at least in part to the four valve combustion chambers, special intake manifolds and titanium conrods. A racing clutch feeds the power into a six-speed transmission. The body material is carbon fibre offering minimum weight and maximum rigidity and forming the basis for an innovative safety cage system.

The race-bred chassis features two double wishbone axles and a first for a road car: pushrods on the rear axle. They allow positioning of struts on the transmission, and permit fine-tuning of the chassis as well as being aerodynamically advantageous air ducting in the engine, transmission and rear axle area. Additionally, they reduce overall weight and the unsprung masses for still better performance. With adjustable spring mounts on all wheels, wheel load can be perfectly balanced.

The brakes of the Carrera GT are also the highest of high-tech: Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB). Perforated and internally vented like metal brake discs, they weigh 50% less, reducing unsprung mass. Together with an innovative brake lining, PCCBs consistently generate extremely high and constant friction coefficients.

With the first-ever application of an 8-piston brake calipre in front and 4-piston calipre at the rear, the performance of the brakes is motorsport state-of-the-art.

The new Carrera GT is as race-bred as any Porsche before it - perhaps moreso.