I'm curious about the new Exhaust System

http://www.porsche.com/usa/aboutpors...&id=2007-11-30

My jaw is on the floor. That 2008 looks simply amazing - and that is juts the exterior. I have a new love (er...lust)...

Thanks for posting!
-B

44lb weight savings for PCCB, not bad!

It does look stunning.

Wasn't there a team testing this new rear end during the 07 season?

I wonder how much resonance tuning they did on the variant exhaust setup?

I will try to get some pictures to post, my '08 is on US soil today!

Will be testing it in Atlanta on Friday if the weather cooperates.

Mike please let us know what you think of the new car and how it compares to the 07's.

Chris

That's great news! Congrats Mike! Guess you aren't excited or anything

What is going on in ATL Friday? Is it an open test day?

A private testing day, I think Leh will be there (I'll need an instructor!). Call him for more info.

There is a confusion in this text, the PCCB will be only available for the Supercup cars, not the Cup cars. The exhaust also is different, first time that the Supercup cars will have different exhaust than the Cup car, while they both have cat converter (400cell), the Supercup does not have mufflers, and is louder.

I'm buried with work for a while due to taking off a few days in my busiest time of the year, but I did get some pictures that I will post when I can.

The car is great, the brakes are SO much better than the 996 GT3 cup, they feel like a well tuned formula car. The car feels smaller and lighter, maybe because it is a stiffer chassis and suspension. Power does not feel as strong as my old car but maybe I just got used to the Viper. It is fast in 6th gear due to aero and the sequential shifter gets you up to speed nicely. Steering is also improved over the old car.

I am still having trouble with downshifts, almost spun out three times. It sounds like I am killing the tranny but Leh told me they do make noise and I will get used to it. I have to get the timing down better and speed up the push on the shift lever and make sure to blip the throttle enough, if not the tranny really clunks and the rear end wants to come around.

I did quite a few laps/sessions with the front sway bar accidentally disconnected and it oversteered a bit but was not too bad at the cautious pace I was going - I guess it's a pretty stable platform!

In my 2nd session, without pushing at all, I went about as fast as my 996 cup. Then I went a second faster in my last session so I guess the car is significantly faster than the 996 cup. Leh and the guys in the new Rolex Daytona cars were flying, as was Darrell Carlisle in his new '08 cup car.

Hope to get to drive it again soon. Any good racing simulators with sequential shifters that require blipping to get it in gear smoothly?

Mike-

Do the brakes have better feel than the 06-07 cars? In your post you state that they are much better than the 996 brakes, yet in 06-07 cars I do not know of anyone who can brake later in the 997 - due mostly to the absense of abs.

Patrick,

I believe the brakes are the same as in previous 997 Cup cars. At least they felt the same to me. The differences to me were:

1. the car is a bit faster, due to more hp and torque (although not a lot faster);
2. the rev limiter has been increased to 8,400 rpm (which helps in certain places);
3. 5th and 6th gears are taller.

Here are some pics of my car:

Thanks for posting the photos - Great looking Car, lover your graphics.

JCM

Looks great Darrell! Good luck with the 2008 season.