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Eastern Creek, NSW
What we liked
>> Gob-smacking midrange (Lag, what turbo lag?)
>> Gob-smacking track manners
>> Only Porsche anoraks will know how much you spent
Not so much
>> Only Porsche anoraks will know how much you spent
>> Gearbox requires familiarization... Another 100 laps should sort it, Paul...
>> Seriously, I can't afford one
Overall rating: 4.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 4.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.0/5.0
Safety: 3.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.5/5.0
X-factor: 4.5/5.0
About our ratings OVERVIEW
Porsche's 911 is, quite literally one of the icons of the world automotive industry. An unrivalled racetrack pedigree, closer to 50 than 40 years of production history and a silhouette and mechanical layout all its own, ensure that it is also unique.
Boasting 390kW, 680Nm and a top speed of over 320km/h, the new 997 Series 911 GT2 is the fastest, most powerful and 'torquiest' factory 911 ever sold. It's also the most expensive with a pricetag well on the wrong side of $400K.
Based on the 911 Turbo and built by the factory racing division on the same line that produces the racetrack-ready 911 GT3, GT3-RS and Carrera Cup models, just 700 (approx) GT2s will be produced for worldwide consumption. Little wonder then, that even with delivery dates for local right-hand drive models still to be finalized, Porsche Cars Australia (PCA) is already holding a record 31 orders for the Swabian supercar.
This is the car 911 owners aspire to own...
PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
PCA expects to sell a total of between 35-40 MY-08 GT2s. The sales will be split between the overtly competition-oriented Clubsport variant and the 'standard' model, the company says.
In this case 'standard' is somewhat of a misnomer, the GT2 is by definition a racetrack-oriented model featuring semi-slick Michelin tyres, race-style folding airbag-equipped carbon-shelled bucket seats, fully-adjustable suspension (and we mean fully!) and ceramic composite brakes on both variants.
By way of explanation, the Clubsport version also includes a bolt-in half rollcage, onboard fire extinguisher, six-point race harnesses, flame resistant seat surfaces and wiring for a battery isolation switch (as required in competition cars) at no extra cost.
Both variants are priced at $425,700. Options include a full bolt-in roll cage and other racetrack goodies.
That said, we don't want to give you the idea that the GT2 is a stripped-out shell. In fact, the equipment levels remain remarkably high -- for a racecar, that is (rather than a $425,700 coupe!).
There are power windows, keyless entry, climate control et al but, for example, no power seat adjustment -- and no rear seats at all (not that a 911's are all that useful).
Adaptive sport seats are an option and features such as the Porsche Communication Management system with its 5.8-inch colour screen and Porsche's Sound Package Plus are available at no extra cost. Navigation, telephone module and even an electronic trip recorder can be added as modules. BOSE Surround Sound and Porsche's Chrono Package Plus are also available, ostensibly at extra cost.
MECHANICAL
The GT2 is far more than a warmed-over 911 Turbo. As its near-$100K premium over the all-wheel-drive Turbo suggests, there's little that hasn't been fettled in the 'changeover'.
Differences abound: GT2 is two-wheel drive, the Turbo four; the GT2 is a two-seater with lighter manual racer-ready bucket, the turbo 2+2 arrives with lashings of leather and conventional seats with power adjustment; the GT2 gets Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) as standard, the Turbo doesn't; titanium is used for a fair proportion of the exhaust system; there's a new stronger, lighter aluminium rear subframe; the bonnet and door skins are also alloy (saving 7kg per side) and the rear wing is carbon-reinforced rather than fibreglass. The end result is 145kg worth of weight savings -- despite the upgrading of virtually every component on the rolling chassis.
The watercooled 3.6-litre horizontally-opposed six-cylinder powerplant (Oh, that sound!) retains the Turbo's dimensions, variable cam timing and dry-sump lubrication system. For the GT2, it gets bigger watercooled variable-geometry turbochargers and the inlet air system is revised right from the very point it enters the car from the high-pressure zones at the sides of the rear wing supports. There's a new tuned expansion-style inlet manifold (a first for Porsche), upgraded intercoolers and a new exhaust system, plus more...
Boasting around 1.4bar at full boost (0.2bar more than the Turbo on overboost), the GT2 produces better than 108kW and 188Nm per litre -- racecar levels of specific output. The end result is 390kW (at 6500rpm) and 680Nm -- a 37kW and 60Nm boost over the Turbo's hardly anaemic output. That torque figure is constant and held from 2200-4500rpm -- not the result of an overboost function (as per the 'cooking model' Turbo).
Just one gearbox is offered, a conventional six-speed manual. While the Turbo's final drive is retained, the gearbox's internal ratios are taller, boosting top speed to 329km/h. The limited slip differential is also different from the Turbo -- it provides asymmetric lock-up: more on overrun (40 per cent) than in traction (28 per cent) for better stability under brakes.
Like the powertrain, the GT2's chassis is based on the Turbo. Though it is rear-wheel drive, the GT2 retains the all-wheel-drive 911 shell for its extra strength.
The GT2's suspension is bespoke and features stiffer spring, damper and roll bar rates. The set-up allows full adjustability including camber and castor front and rear, ride height, anti-roll bar tuning and the ability to adjust the spring plates' heights. This allows a keen owner to adjust ride heights individually of the spring preload to 'corner weight' the car for perfect setup. Even the front track is adjustable.
As delivered, the GT2's track is up 20/30mm (fr/rr) on the already well-planted Turbo and the standard static weight distribution is 38:68 -- biased towards the rear, of course.
Steering features a variable rate rack and as noted above, the GT2's brakes are ceramic composite units gripped by multi-piston calipers (six front, four rear). All rotors are vented and drilled -- the fronts are 380mm and the rear 350mm.
Wheels are GT2-specific 10-spoke 19-inchers -- 8.5-inch at the front and a whopping 12 at the rear. They are shod with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tyres which look like they'd cry enough on a cloudy day, let alone in real rain. In reality, Mr Jim Richards (see below) says they are fine in all but standing water --- as long as you can get them up to temperature first... Gulp!
There's no spare tyre... That's what pit crews (and aerosol goop) are for, it seems...
PACKAGING
Air management plays a significant part in deciding what stays with regard to the GT2's bodywork and what gets added. For example at the front end of the car the Turbo's foglights have been jettisoned in preference for larger side apertures to help brake cooling. There are grills and gills at various junctures but they all have a purpose.
The revised bodywork combines with a deeper front 'splitter', over-bonnet ducting, a flat underbody and the new fixed rear wing, says Porsche, to play a practical role in generating a drag co-efficient (cd) of 0.32, and more importantly, positive downforce at both ends at high speed.
Even if it all didn't work, we'd take it... The GT2 is exactly how the world's fastest production 911 should look!
Inside, as noted above, there's room for two only. The carbon-shelled buckets are a work of art -- providing racetrack levels of location, and the ability to use proper harnesses and yet retaining the ability to fold, when required, to access the rear parcel shelf and beyond. The seats even incorporate side airbags.
The cabin experience is pure 911 (with its ergonomic foibles), however, you do sit noticeably lower -- just how the writer likes it. The thick alcantara-trimmed wheel adjusts in two planes and I found it a cinch to position myself just so.
SAFETY
Given the GT2's ability to warp the space-time continuum (it is the fastest-ever road-going Porsche around the Nordschleife -- at 7min 32secs comparable to the lap time set by the million-dollar-plus Porsche Carrera GT), driver aids are a key part of the safety package.
The GT2 gets both PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management) and PSM (Porsche Stability Management) as well as one of the most impressively specified braking package on a road car today.
PSM incorporates stability and traction control and has three driver-selectable modes: normal; stability control off (traction control still operates) and insane (everything off). In concert with PSM there's a Launch Assistant for when you want to nail Porsche's 3.7sec 0-100km/h or 7.4 0-160km/h acceleration claims.
PASM is an active damping system offering two modes: Normal -- for road and wet track use, and Sport for when you're in the mood for serious action.
Porsche does not offer an NCAP rating for the 911 in any variant. The passive suite the GT2 features includes front, side and 'head' airbags.
Fastening points to suit Porsche's own cage are incorporated into the GT2's structure
COMPETITORS
A road-going racecar, the GT2 has few direct competitors. Indeed, Porsche would say it faces stiffer competition from within its own stable.
Local enthusiasts' uptake of upper-level variants of the 911 is significantly stronger than overseas markets. The Turbo, naturally-aspirated GT3-RS and GT3 are all favourites Down Under. Last year Porsche sold more than 520 911s Down Under and over 40 per cent of them were the 'premium' variants listed above.
Perhaps the closest competitor to the GT2 that ticks the same sort of 'racetrack-ready' box is the recently launched Ferrari F430 Scuderia.
At $550,000 the 375kW/470Nm V8-powered Italian quotes a faster 0-100km/h time and higher top speed. It also features a multi-dimensional stability/chassis control system and automated manual gearbox that is claimed to be the closest thing to F1 technology for the road. Unlike the GT2, we'd suggest the Scuderia might be a touch temperamental to drive to work. But we'll never know -- like you we've got Buckley's chance of ever driving one...
Not far away either is the much-rumoured Mercedes-Benz AMG SL Black Series. Variously said to be a twin-turbo V8 or V12, the Affalterbach special is expected to be the most racetrack-ready roadcar the company has ever produced. Don't expect much change out of $500K, however...
ON THE TRACK
Well known Chicago Porsche aficionado, Joel Goodson, summed up the marque in 1983... There really is no substitute... No risk!
Better known locally, and better informed, Australian Porsche aficionado and professional race and tarmac rally driver Jim Richards reckons the GT2 is the best Porsche he's driven. Yep, he's biased, but he's also in a much better position to judge than us part-time Porschephiles.
As this review is published, Mr Richards is strutting the GT2's stuff in the 2008 running of Targa Tasmania. I can't think of a better way to prove the mettle of one of the world's most usable supercars.
Alas, our time in the GT2 was limited to just three laps of Eastern Creek. Hardly time to retune your brain to the car's performance, let alone give a considered appraisal.
For a super-Porsche neophyte, the overriding impression the GT2 delivers is torque -- great big dollops of Porsche's stock in trade. Thanks to the prodigious midrange of the twin-turbo mega mill planted in the rear of the GT2, the greater part of a lap of Eastern Creek -- from the short-shifted exit of Turn Two's left-hand hairpin to its right-hand counterpoint at Turn Nine -- is taken in third gear. Nonetheless, progress is rapid.
The engine is alive and it's so creamy rich in its delivery that it's tempting to be 'greedy' with the throttle in Turn Four and Turn Eight -- the section we used to call Corporate Hill when GP bikes still raced around the western Sydney layout. Do so, however (be greedy with the throttle -- not race GP bikes), and your line will be upset and apex missed as the huge amounts of urge and equally matched rear traction conspire to lighten the GT2's front end and push wide.
The GT2 needs a delicate touch to get the best from it, it seems. Little wonder most mere mortals will be faster round a track in the 85kW/175Nm less lively GT3.
Temper the throttle and practice good brake, throttle and turn etiquette and the GT2's steering is sharp and turn-in accurate. It's clichéd but this is a car that rewards a traditional 'slow-in fast-out' approach to a corner -- only don't get suckered in to believing the 'slow in' bit... It's never that slow!
Even on the smooth confines of a racetrack, the GT2's steering wheel is alive in your hands -- as you'd expect if you've ever driven a 911 before. You're always aware of what's going on at the wheels -- proof positive how well a well-fettled variable ratio steering set-up can work, we'd say.
It's easy to sense what the camber and surface is doing, such is the intimacy afforded the driver. It's equally easy to sense what the back end is up to. Even with all the safety nannies in place, you're rewarded with just a hint of lateral movement as the tyres 'walk' sideways a smidgen on hard corner exits. Sublime.
Get the balance wrong into or out of a corner though and there's always the impression that things could go very wrong, very quickly -- it'll take a brave (or stupid) driver to bully this car, despite Porsche's myriad driver aids.
The engine revs build rapidly at part throttle openings and when you floor the throttle you need to be ready with upchanges NOW! The short-throw gearshift is bordering on heavy and requires positive effort to overcome 'stiction' and accurate guidance on the second-third upchange -- lest you miss the third-fourth plane. Familiarity will help, for sure.
A 'fastish' lap of Eastern Creek requires a snap downchange before the super fast Turn One and a fourth-second across-the-gate swap while braking into Turn Two. In both cases the writer found the 'box was positive and confidence inspiring.
Ideal pedal position and crisp throttle response makes heel-toeing easy. Everything you could ask from a serious performance car. Does it matter therefore that we'd suggest the same box and clutch might be a little too 'deliberate' for day-to-day use? No, we didn't think so either.
At the pace yours truly was circulating, the Michelin Sport Cup semi-slicks delivered plenty of grip but the standard brake package was hardly warming up. The power and longevity (in terms of lap-by-lap track and longer term use) of Porsche's ceramic-composite stoppers are well known. What's perhaps less appreciated is that until they're hot, the binders need a considerable amount of pedal pressure to deliver their best.
This is enough to catch out the unwary, at least initially. This is one of the reasons some other manufacturers still resist using the systems on their road cars. That said the GT2 system displayed none of the foibles of the carbon brakes fitted to the SLR Mercedes McLaren Roadster we drove earlier this year (more here).
Save for a big stop into Turn Two, Eastern Creek's not particularly hard on brakes, but if you need any proof of the their effectiveness consider the fact Jim Richards did lap after hot lap in his Targa-bound GT2 on the launch day, with nary a whiff of smoke, nor any degradation of performance. And this with a driver that was topping 255km/h on the main straight and storming past the 100m board before he even looked at lifting! This translated into some serious speed in the braking area.
Porsche's driver's aids (PASM etc) proved to be relatively unobtrusive on the track. Like all high performance cars you get the best from the vehicle by ensuring you bump into these 'fun governors' ('life preservers' on cars as fast as the GT2!) as little as possible. On the track at least, the GT2 generates only a very occasional flash of the telltale, letting you know the software's saved your bacon one more time.
In the very short time afforded us, there's no way we can even pretend we got close to the edge of the GT2's performance envelope -- let alone extended it. In this generation, however, such is the inherent civility of the car you can feel comfortable, if cautiously so, remarkably quickly.
Given the car's racetrack pedigree and mission statement that's high praise, we figure...
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