agdamis

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/27/g...ing-in-7-26-4/

Chris from Cali

Still has that ugly "window" in the hood...

I'd MUCH rather have a nice Z06 with tasteful mods and redone interior. But that's just me.

opus

Looks like both the Chevy and Nissan will have production cars that beat the 997 GT2 and Carerra GT at around 1/2 and 1/3 GT2's MSRP.

9974G

WOW. I don't much care for Corvette's, but credit is due here.

I suspect that the GTR v-spec will be even faster.

Porsche has some homework to do for the 991 GTR3 and GT2.

Chris from Cali

I think it's more a matter of 'Ring times becoming overstated. It's become the "1/4 mile" or "0-60" of the late Noughties...

KBS911

I think the GTR hype bubble is about to burst when the real production models hit the shore. Car and Driver's latest edition hosts a shootout between the GTR, Z06, ViperACR and the Porsche GT-2. Result: The GTR took 12.6 sec in the QTR @ 111 and a 4.1/ 0-60. Thats really fast but not the crazy numbers posted for earlier tests. I suspect that perhaps that the V spec cars were used to lay down the marketing hype #s early on. The latest numbers seem more in keeping with the hp/weight ratios on the GTR. Not knocking the GTR performance mind you but the numbers just didn't add up for 3900 pound 480 hp car.

To me the article opening pictures on page 44-45 says it all. The Porsche looks best hands down. What a beauty! Fast or not the other cars aren't in the same league visually.

BTW the Nissan GTR won the shootout. What did you expect?

dD/dt

This is probably the most important point here.

Right now, there are engineers in Stuttgart doing the same thing they started in the mid-1970's: desiging a front-engined sports car to keep up with the rest of the world.

Porsche has no doubt already realized that they are losing ground because they're handicapping themselves by sticking with a rear-engine design. They've picked the low-hanging fruit, and now they're going to need to evaluate the balance of the car to figure out a way to get in front again.

We all love the 911 line for a lot of reasons that are intrinsic to Porsche. It doesn't have to be the fastest or the cheapest for us to buy them. But it can't get beat by much, otherwise it becomes a caricature of what was once a great car. It won't be enough to rely on nice styling.

phaphaphooey

It seems to me that the competition is getting so fierce that if Porsche does not move to a midengine format for the 911 it will continue to be handicapping itself by sacrificing performance at the alter of tradition. A lot of purists will be pissed however. I don't think they will but I do think that they should.

Meister Fahrer

Who cares about friggin' Nissan?

The 911 has been around for over 40 years and somehow gets better each generation.
The GTR or whatever it's called will be out of production and just a distant memory in a couple short years.

At least the Vette has some heritage and loyal following, and it's also gotten consistently better.

The 911 will never be mid-engine -- that's the Cayman -- but what about a Cayman TT....?

Dr. Car

Seems like intercontinental competition is stirring up a tempest in this Porsche blog's teapot!

That Vette is mighty impressive. The Z06 already was pretty amazing for a $70K car. I think the ZR1 will be regarded as an epic car for years to come - the Hemi Cuda of our day, perhaps. And maybe regarded in the future as a value & engineering accomplishment at the peak of the the early 2000's horsepower wars, if the car lives up to this sort of hype.

Still happy to have my 997 instead of a Z06, which I considered at the time of purchase. 400 hp I could love, but 505 hp I needed like a hole in my head.

opus

I think the 911 could stay in the current format even in the current power level "IF" the weigh can be reduce substantially. Just my wild guess...weigh would need to be in the 2,500 lb range. Ferrari is heading in the direction of lighter weigh cars, with a new 600hp car coming in at 2,200 lb.

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/ferrari-buildin.html

Brian S

Remember that the 911 platform has what no other car can do, use the rear weight to rotate the car. No other car can be throttle steered (not drifting, but lifting slightly to increase your turn-in) in quite the same way as a 911.

Also remember that the ring has HUGE straights, cars that can go over 200mph and get there quickly will be rewarded greatly and the ZR1 has an extremely insane amount of power and reasonable aero package.

That being said, I did originally prefer my Cayman to my GT3 until I learned about the throttle peddle and how important it is. I drove an old 80's 911 turbo with probably original tires that rated well over 500 to learn just how you can keep the steering wheel at the same place, but use the throttle to turn in, or alleviate over steer. Driving the old style 911 for only 3 laps, and then driving my car again dropped my lap time over 1 full second in only a day. Just imagine how much there is left in the car.

rfedele

The 1st generation came out in 1969. They've all been generally regarded as performance monsters. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder (and I for one think the 997 is one of the prettiest cars of all time), but performance numbers aren't too debatable.

lig

My S2000 is easily steered with the throttle. It's easier to rotate than my C2S.

I don't particularly care for the looks of the GT-R but I'd snap one up in a minute if I could find one @ MSRP.

Personally I'd rather that the 911 ditch the rear engine/back seatlets and become a true mid-engine design.

tooloud10

I'd rather they didn't mess with the car, but then again, probably the biggest reason I'm a 911 owner is because it has a rear seat.