GT3 Drag Races Show How Much Weight Affects Performance
Even with the might of 502 horsepower, weight still makes a difference when it comes to acceleration figures in the GT3 lineup.
While the world’s leading car manufacturers are in an all-out battle when it comes to horsepower numbers, one figure often goes unmentioned. Weight. Enthusiasts like us can rattle off power specs and engine codes with encyclopedic knowledge. But weight? Well, that’s always one best left to scales.
This is why it’s such a big deal when a car manufacturer like Porsche touts something as light weight. It adds legitimate performance, just not in the ways you can see in your local newsstand magazine.
Daniel Abt, a German car vlogger has decided to put those theories to the test with a GT3. His friend happens to own a GT3 as well, but it’s the lighter Cup car. How perfect. Belonging to Jan-Eric Slooten, this Cup car is a full 175 kg lighter than the road version. That’s 386 pounds lighter, for those of us reading stateside. Power to weight comes in to play here. For the street car, every horsepower has to move 6.3 pounds. For the cup car, that drops down to 5.5. You can easily guess what happens in an acceleration contest, as seen on Motor1.
While this is a GT3, we know the GT3 RS will apply some of that weight savings philosophy. Know the RS’s signature carbon fiber hood? While it may be pricey and look cool, it does add performance capabilities to the car. Now of course something like a hood alone isn’t going to change much beyond a fraction of a percent, but cumulatively, it adds up. In fact, Porsche brags about the lightweight construction of the 992, expressing it gets some of the prior RS model’s lighter construction philosophy.
But, the street car is almost 400 pounds heavier. But is that such a bad thing? With performance so close, and a car you can actually live with, maybe the weight penalty is an easy one to justify. The Cup car is cool, but it’s a full-on racing car, not even road legal, and will likely make you go deaf if you don’t wear ear plugs. But it’s not a bad way to go deaf.
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