Deanger

Colm,

You know I share you enthusiasm for the car. However, I do think the car requires a great deal of experience and a willingness to play with the set-up if you are going to take on road courses like the ring where the pavement is not exactly idea. I catch air a lot more in the GT2 then I mean to -- often due to stiffness of suspension. I think Hamann7's point about the factory set understeer is well taken, I had some taken out, and the result is a more consistent handling experience from 0-1xx.

0396,

I think the key thing is (and it has been mentioned here before) is that once you are really at speed you cannot get away with the kind of mistakes that the excellent road holding of the car lets you get away with below 55 or so. In other words, I wouldn't plan on taking a high speed bend without a really nice entry because even without touching the brakes a GT2 can get away from you in a way the 996TT with PSM does not. At 45 you can decide your entry isn't ideal and get the car through, perhaps with some throttle steering, which is fun. At 110 -- well -- don't ask me to do that.

I think as was posted above -- The GT2 is about anticipation -- you need to know what you're doing wrong about 1 second sooner than in a TT. As I don't pass that test, I drive my car at about 7-8 tenths... slowly working my way up... figure I'll be at 9 in about... 30 years.

FixedWing

A few more comments …

Firstly, I notice that after viewing the video and talking about it a little more, no one here is (seriously) blaming the driver for the crash. I think we can all see that the track is extremely difficult and as Dean said “[b]asically, that corner looks like it is designed specifically to ruin a GT2.”

After Colm’s comments I went back and looked at the video. I no longer think the car hooked up again. I think it is simply down to his loosing the back end. Probably he tried to turn in before the car was settled and he had the back end under control gain. At speed, you are in a hurry there to get the car turned in after the hump and braking. The crash is actually a long way down the track and well after the point where you would have finished your braking.

To the factors others have listed, I would add the extra wide tyres combined with the LSD which effectively means that both rear wheels will loose traction together and I guess that the wide tyres are making the break a little more sudden.

There also seems to be a pattern. The crashes all seem to involve high-speed throttle off conditions. Throttle control skills seem most essential for anyone thinking about driving these cars fast.

And yes, I am with most everyone here in that I still find it an exciting and attractive car. Sort of like dancing with the devil. >

Stephen

Steve Lavigne

With the twin turbo powerplant and lack of AWD, it stands to reason that the GT2 has the highest rearward weight bias of all current production Porsches. Combine this with braking while cresting a hill, and you have a good opportunity to get it sideways with a very slight turn of the steering wheel or irregularity of the road.

PogueMoHone

Stephen,

Your comment "the crashes all seem to involve high-speed throttle off conditions" hits the nail on the head. He may have gotten off the throttle coming over the hump, a natural but incorrect reaction.

I think he exacerbated the situation by staying on the brakes.

Now, had he got of brakes (skid marks) could he have saved it?.

Or was all lost when he unsettled the car?

Sun Ra

"the crashes all seem to involve high-speed throttle off conditions" hits the nail on the head. He may have gotten off the throttle coming over the hump, a natural but incorrect reaction

guys, anyone who has driven a 76-84 turbo has been there!! we have discussed the gt2's similarity being a 2wd turbo.

Dean is right, this is a car for disciplined owners who know they can behave 100% of the time. I never drove my gt2 more than 9/10's which is much faster than a TT at 10/10. But i overdrilled the gas once coming out of a 2nd gear corner, put it sideways [just like the old 79 turbo days - only much quicker] and drove out of it under power, very scary. you have to throttle steer and stay on top of it, no relaxing...
an amazingly fun car but like driving all the time with a gun aimed at you- one mistake and you're embarassed and maybe injured.

die Urkraft

I don't know anything about driving the ring or GT2s (I've never driven one or even been in one). So I'll comment on what I've seen in this video and most of it is pretty hard to make out.

One question, mainly about the track: does anyone else see that there is an off color (lighter) area on the track, right at the top of the hill after the bump, just after the tires on the left? Not sure but it almost looks like it is moisture on the track... or just odd lighting? I've looked many times and I just don't know... sure looks like moisture. Anyway it looked to me like the tracks start a few feet after that point (a little before where the circle was spray painted) and continue off to the right.

To speculate (and that's all I can do) perhaps the setup was a case of too much speed up the hill for getting off the throttle or trying to late break with too little downforce (at the crest of the hill) and ... if that off color area was moisture... one is in the middle of a "moment" before they even realize they've crossed the threshold. If this was the case my guess would be a decision was made, based on the lack of breaking and speed of entry, and he choose to try to go off the inside and avoid the outside wall in the hope he could bleed speed off. A little slip from the rear and it was already over, he was just a passenger.

Again pure speculation on my part and in no way a dig at the car or driver.