Carwow Base Carrera vs GT3 around a racetrack
11-24-2021, 12:37 PM
#1
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Carwow Base Carrera vs GT3 around a racetrack
Thankfully, it's not yet another drag race comparison. At the end of the video, they revert back to their Carwow straight-line ways.
Popular Reply
11-25-2021, 11:04 PM
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Magazine results are very difficult to reproduce. Journalists will tell you that few owners will go to the levels of abuse that they inflict on these cars. Take them with a grain of salt.
Carwow’s results on that day are their results for that particular day.
For most drivers, the performance between these cars will be basically indistinguishable. Yes, GT3 experience is different (especially, power delivery) — it’s own thing, but the 992 GT3 is bringing last generation’s power train to the table when the Carreras; Turbos, and every other 992 got muscled up. The performance gap between the Base Carrera and a GT3 isn’t what it used to be. Driver skill and tires can cover the spread.
This leads me to an important point— these cars don’t drive themselves. Nurburgring times really have no bearing on reality. When you watch what it takes behind the wheel to record these times, you quickly understand how unlikely it would be for you to get anywhere close to the times the manufacturers and their drivers throw down. We all put way too much emphasis on these numbers.
Spend a track day where you can watch some maniac in Miata, etc lap other drivers in more powerful, more expensive cars, it’s pretty clear that the machine is a relatively small part of the equation.
There’s no such thing as a slow 992. Even the base car throws down “supercar” numbers of just a few years ago. The differences between the variants of the 992 are increasingly incremental vs dramatic steps. That’s not a bad thing. If anything, it just shows how great these cars are. 👍
Carwow’s results on that day are their results for that particular day.
For most drivers, the performance between these cars will be basically indistinguishable. Yes, GT3 experience is different (especially, power delivery) — it’s own thing, but the 992 GT3 is bringing last generation’s power train to the table when the Carreras; Turbos, and every other 992 got muscled up. The performance gap between the Base Carrera and a GT3 isn’t what it used to be. Driver skill and tires can cover the spread.
This leads me to an important point— these cars don’t drive themselves. Nurburgring times really have no bearing on reality. When you watch what it takes behind the wheel to record these times, you quickly understand how unlikely it would be for you to get anywhere close to the times the manufacturers and their drivers throw down. We all put way too much emphasis on these numbers.
Spend a track day where you can watch some maniac in Miata, etc lap other drivers in more powerful, more expensive cars, it’s pretty clear that the machine is a relatively small part of the equation.
There’s no such thing as a slow 992. Even the base car throws down “supercar” numbers of just a few years ago. The differences between the variants of the 992 are increasingly incremental vs dramatic steps. That’s not a bad thing. If anything, it just shows how great these cars are. 👍
The following users liked this post:
detansinn (11-24-2021)
11-24-2021, 12:57 PM
#4
Burning Brakes
Base model is very impressive though, regardless.
The following users liked this post:
por356 (11-24-2021)
11-24-2021, 12:59 PM
#5
Race Car
Yeah, but one gets to park up front, and the other is told where spectator parking is located.
The following users liked this post:
Zanotti (11-29-2021)
11-24-2021, 01:00 PM
#6
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
This is why I'm happy with (and keeping my) Carrera S cab.
If you already have a 992, you already have a very high performance machine. I'm not interested in "climbing the ladder" right now, although a Turbo S would be awesome
If you already have a 992, you already have a very high performance machine. I'm not interested in "climbing the ladder" right now, although a Turbo S would be awesome
Trending Topics
11-24-2021, 02:55 PM
#8
Race Car
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Fairfax County, Virginia
Posts: 4,220
Received 4,153 Likes
on
1,467 Posts
I took a base Carrera 4 around Summit Point a few months ago and drove it hard (Porsche sponsored driving event). As someone who has been Instructing in HPDE's since 1996, I can pretty much tell you I did not need more car. It's blindingly quick, and will test the skills of most people that go to the track. We all tend to poo-poo base models out of habit (including myself), but the 992 has the chops, and its delightful. Well balanced, stable, great brakes, exceptional turn-in. I like it.
The following 8 users liked this post by drcollie:
aggie57 (11-24-2021),
detansinn (11-24-2021),
Flash992 (11-24-2021),
OCWinged992 (11-25-2021),
Pcar81 (12-03-2021),
and 3 others liked this post.
The following users liked this post:
Stespa (11-26-2021)
11-24-2021, 03:56 PM
#10
Rennlist Member
11-25-2021, 04:35 AM
#11
If the base came with a manual, I would have gone for the base model, but was forced to upgrade to the S.
But let's be honest, if money was no object, I'd get the GT3 in a heartbeat just for that NA flat 6 engine!
But let's be honest, if money was no object, I'd get the GT3 in a heartbeat just for that NA flat 6 engine!
The following 3 users liked this post by westcoastj:
11-25-2021, 09:11 AM
#12
Rennlist Member
Good video. Goes to show how capable the new cars are but 1.8 seconds is a pretty big difference on a track that short. A huge part of me loves the GT3 and wants one at some point as a street car simply for the drivetrain BUT as a track day car I guess I fail to see the point. Would prefer to have a real race car for race car things (safety equipment, replacement cost, consumables etc).
11-25-2021, 09:35 AM
#13
Rennlist Member
I took a base Carrera 4 around Summit Point a few months ago and drove it hard (Porsche sponsored driving event). As someone who has been Instructing in HPDE's since 1996, I can pretty much tell you I did not need more car. It's blindingly quick, and will test the skills of most people that go to the track. We all tend to poo-poo base models out of habit (including myself), but the 992 has the chops, and its delightful. Well balanced, stable, great brakes, exceptional turn-in. I like it.
11-25-2021, 10:20 AM
#14
Nice vid. Makes you appreciate the fact that HP isn’t everything, and that even the base Carrera is an awesome car.
I’ve seen cars, with 100HP+ less at the track, turn in better lap times than supposed “superior” cars. Big equalizers are (1) Type of track. Tracks that don’t have long straight away’ s (big advantage for the high HP car), but a course full of a lot of turns like the one in the video tend to equalize HP disparity; (2) Tires; and of course, the most important factor…the driver’s ability.
I’ve seen cars, with 100HP+ less at the track, turn in better lap times than supposed “superior” cars. Big equalizers are (1) Type of track. Tracks that don’t have long straight away’ s (big advantage for the high HP car), but a course full of a lot of turns like the one in the video tend to equalize HP disparity; (2) Tires; and of course, the most important factor…the driver’s ability.
Last edited by CodyBigdog; 11-25-2021 at 10:26 AM.
The following users liked this post:
SBAD (11-25-2021)
11-25-2021, 11:21 AM
#15
Pro
Nice vid. Makes you appreciate the fact that HP isn’t everything, and that even the base Carrera is an awesome car.
I’ve seen cars, with 100HP+ less at the track, turn in better lap times than supposed “superior” cars. Big equalizers are (1) Type of track. Tracks that don’t have long straight away’ s (big advantage for the high HP car), but a course full of a lot of turns like the one in the video tend to equalize HP disparity; (2) Tires; and of course, the most important factor…the driver’s ability.
I’ve seen cars, with 100HP+ less at the track, turn in better lap times than supposed “superior” cars. Big equalizers are (1) Type of track. Tracks that don’t have long straight away’ s (big advantage for the high HP car), but a course full of a lot of turns like the one in the video tend to equalize HP disparity; (2) Tires; and of course, the most important factor…the driver’s ability.