alexpapas

The CGT had its first foray onto a track today. PCA Phoenix had a very well attended DE event at Firebird Raceway - East Track. The track is a favorite Indy Car 1.1 mile test track and consists of a couple of nice straights with several double turns and a tight hairpin at one end. Lots of run off room and no place to reallly get damaged. The club was kind enough to create an "Uber Group" class for the CGT and a GT3.

The first and most noticeable thing about the run was that the CGT simply stayed flat through every corner. There was never a hint of bias to one or the other side. It simply went where it was pointed. The track is pretty much a third gear track, with turn one being a possible downshift to 2nd if you floated in a tad to fast. Power out of the corners into the straights was deceptively quick because the car is so smooth in its power delivery and the the car clearly has much more capability than me. I don't think I could get it to the edge because I simply don't have the nerve.

On lap one and two I underestimated the car's brakes and braked way too early. I found that you can carry speed into the corners significantly deeper than anything else I've ever driven.

The car is still fairly new and the brakes are probably not fully bedded in yet, so I wasn't trying for any world beating lap times. It was a real treat being out there and I have even more respect and admiration for Porsche engineers now. They have created a stunning and unbelievably quick supercar.

GoFastKindaGuy

Very interesting report, Alex. My first reaaction at Road America was, "Damn, those corners come up fast!! Awsome brakes." Like yours in Phoenix, my second was, "I am not worthy."

Isn't that baby a blast on the track? -- especially not having to spot police.

Mighty Shilling

This thread is WORTHLESS without pics

ben in lj

Hey Alex. I've gone back and forth (daily) on getting this damn car (that was prepped on Friday) and am currently planning to take delivery if neither of the two currently interested parties buy it. I spoke to a very high volume, motorsport oriented Pcar dealer who said they can raise the car 1/2 to 3/4" (the later being enough - I think - to get it in my garage) without compromising high speed stability below appx 150 mph. They can also adjust the rear sway bar at the same time to dial out the lateral hop I experienced during higher speed hard cornering on uneven pavement. Have you experienced any of this lateral hop?

Gofastguy, I would appreciate your answering the question as well if you don't mind. I'm not concerned about how the car does on the track. I know it is flawless there where ride height, off the line clutch use, and uneven pavement are not issues.

alexpapas

Now that I've accumulated some real world miles as well a bit of track time, I am really enjoying the car.

The clutch is really not an issue at all. I discovered the method of easing off the clutch without any gas, gets the car moving via an engine management software program that feeds in enough gas. From there you ease into the gas and you are driving a regular stick shift.

I also found that the little plastic lip below the carbon fiber in the front of the car gives sufficient warning that the obstacle you're attempting to cross is a tad too high. The plastic gets a little ragged, but I have not found any real obstacles that I can't get over in my driving around Scottsdale and Phoenix. I use black duct tape on the lip and it works just fine.
I spoke to the CGT techie at Scottsdale Porsche and he tells me that there is a factory kit to raise the car by about 12 millimeters or about 1/2 an inch, without compromising any of the car's handling. He's not sure if there will be a cost associated with the job for owners, but my guess is that Porsche has had an earful of the clearance issue and they may opt to to treat the job as a gratis service to keep their high end customers happy.

Once you get over the idea that you are in a very pricey car, it is a blast to drive, even in traffic. There is not a lot to beat the fun of squirting through small gaps in traffic and the CGT is so very accurate directionally that you almost just have to think of the gap and it goes for it.

The "wow" factor is huge and it is still very rare around here. I wasn't sure initially if it was a car to keep long term, but the more I drive it and look at it the stronger I feel that I will have the CGT for a very long time.

ben in lj

Hey Alex, I tried the ease off the clutch with no gas several times and 80% of those times it stalled. I think I can get used to feathering the clutch to the point that it's tolerable.

I didn't know the factory had a kit. I've been hearing this for several months but none of the dealers I've spoken to have even heard of it.

What I'm most concerned with at this point is whether you've pushed the car in any corners on uneven pavement and if so if you've experienced any lateral hop (I sure did) as a result? Your answer as well as gofastguy's will help me determine which setting to try on the rear sway.

alexpapas

Re lateral hop, I have not felt it at all in street driving. The car is fairly "darty" at high speed and I have to watch my steering input quite carefully on freeways when changing lanes, but it has always been stable and predictable even in relatively fast cornering. The suspension is stiff and you feel every bump in the road, but I have never felt the car move laterally whenever it ran over irregular pavement.

The "no gas" maneuver works every time on a level surface or slight downslope. Any incline at all and you need to feed in a little gas, hold it steady and then let the clutch out.

I hope this helps, but the bottom line for me is that I really love driving this car.

M758

Thanks for bringing the car out... It was great to see one up close.

ben in lj

[QUOTE=alexpapas]The suspension is stiff and you feel every bump in the road, but I have never felt the car move laterally whenever it ran over irregular pavement./QUOTE]

Thanks Alex. I only experienced this in high speed turns. Lane changes and straight line driving, etc didn't have any of it.

graham_mitchell

iirc, the Porsche engineers went to great lengths to lower the centre of gravity of this car. It would be a real shame to undo that!

AmirGT2

I haven't had a chance to get to the track yet with my car but I have had a chance for a few canyon runs and I have not felt any lateral hop either.

I will tell you this though Ben, the tech at my dealer told me that my car's clutch was easier to modulate than the first car they received. Maybe Porsche has adjusted something from the earlier cars or the one that you drove had a more finicky clutch because like Alex and GoFastkindaGuy I have not had any problem adjusting to the clutch either.

Amir

GoFastKindaGuy

Ben, In 1200 miles, I have not noticed any lateral hop -- street or track.

ben in lj

thanks guys. the CGT i drove was an early 04

ben in lj

yes, but it would be a bigger shame to leave the car out on the street at night cause it's too low to get in the garage. insurance would tell me to **** off after it gets stolen the first week it sits outside overnight. THAT would be a shame to me!

alexpapas

There's a point where the practicality of the car comes into question. I know that it was derived from a race car concept, but it is being sold as a streeet legal vehicle and it should be able to function in that environment.

Ferrari, who are not known for their practicality or lack of arrogance regarding what's right, built a hydraulic lift system attached to the horizontal suspension system on the Enzo, to enable it to lift its nose to get over speed bumps, driveways etc. Porsche's CGT has a similar suspension setup and I'm sure that the cost of that item was not that huge and Porsche could certainly have emulated their example.

Once you are into $450,000 for a car the additional expense of that hydraulic system would have had minimal impact on the price of the car, while maintaining the engineering and design function.
I personally do not have any height issues around where I live, but th the CGT is certainly a "planned route" car where you have to think about the obstacles you might encounter.