I did a track day at Laguna in the 2017 Carrera GTS that I purchased last November. My other track car is a Backdraft Cobra, much lighter and more powerful but without all the technical wizardy and mid-front engine vs. rear placement. My only other Porsche was a 1973 1/2 911T, which resembles the modern 911 in name and shape only. This was a new and exciting experience for me because it’s always fun to explore a new car at a track but never more so than the car you are also driving daily.

First and foremost, the Carrera GTS hauls a$$. By my 5th session, I was turning 1:41 lap times (for me, that is fast) on street tires and in pretty cold conditions (air and pavement). It is a remarkable engineering achievement that is a lot of fun to drive.

Power:
- plenty and on a short track like Laguna Seca the power is where you need it. I was consistently overpowering other cars coming out of turn 4, 5, 9, 10, and the straight in back of the paddock.
- better tires are in order, I’m not much of a fan of the P Zeroes, which were often overwhelmed but I think that may be an issue of the temperature more than the tires themselves. I’m still going to switch over to MPSC when I can do all 4 corners. The car feels more powerful than the specs would suggest.

Brakes (I have PCCB):
- yeah, another advantage. I could come in hotter and brake harder, and when I watched the GT3 drivers I saw how they put this to good use. There were two GT3 RS and another GT3 drivers that put on a masters class in braking.
- PCCBs are pretty grabby and don’t have the pedal feel that steel brakes offer but they also had zero fade.
- they didn’t squeek before... now they squeek.

Steering (yes, I have RAS):
- still trying to figure out how/what I feel with RAS. I think I like this feature...
- The electric steering does not offer any feedback but it is crisp and also doesn’t fatigue you. I like this feature...
- understeer? What understeer. It is completely absent in this car and even coming in too hot on a turn can be corrected with a quick jab of the throttle. I haven’t driven many modern generation 911s but the old adage about braking hard coming into a turn needs to be re-examined. I found it very manageable to carry a lot of energy into the turn without having the car push.

Suspension:
- Another highlight, it could handle everything I gave it.
- The toughest corners on the suspension at Laguna are 6 and then exiting the Corkscrew. 6 is my favorite part of the track, it has a decent bank to it and it’s easy to get the right line that takes you in to the curb and then track out right up the hill. It also fully compresses the suspension and over the approx 60 laps I did, not once did I feel anything but the urge to giggle on 6. Coming out of the Corkscrew the car is dropping 30 feet and the suspension has to work. I find this more unnerving than the off-camber turn at 3 because the car lifts at the top before dropping but in the GTS I was running that section faster than my other car and with more precision and consistency.
- PDCC is pretty refined. The car stays flat, always.
- The GTS is no lightweight but it definitely drives differently than the weight sticker would suggest.

Interior:
- The Porsche Precision Track app is amazing.
- The chronograph timer is not so much so, wish is had a better stop/lap button on the steering wheel.
- Seating, I have the 18 way seats. Okay, I missed having a bucket seat with a harness but I don’t miss having a bucket seat for the other 99% of the time I am in the car. The seat is a great compromise between performance and comfort but I would like more bolster (cue the old SNL “more cowbell” video). I did mover around too much in this seat and it fatigued me by the end of the day, not to mention that my left shin now has the word “Bose” embossed in it.
- steering wheel, a regular focus of commentary here. I like it. The notches at 9 and 3 are comfortable but keep in mind that my other car has a Moto-Lita classic wood steering wheel in it, which isn’t a steering wheel anyone would describe as comfortable.

Misc:
- I ran with the spoiler up but didn’t get above 120 mph all day so not sure I noticed the effects even though the air was heavy today. This car is a daily driver so I’m not into have a fixed wing on it and the car, as is, feels planted. I guess I’m not sure if I even need to deal with the spoiler, just let the car manage is.
- damn, I wish I had the extended range fuel tank even with the weight penalty. I would happily spring for the lithium ion battery as an offset to the extra fuel load.
- rear tow hook is behind the license plate, which is a bit of a PITA.
- yes, I really do like the alcantara seats. Sue me.

I’ll close by saying the 991.2 with the much-maligned TT 3.0 is an engineering achievement. Porsche deserves credit for delivering a luxury sports car that is more sports car than luxury but not lacking in luxury. There were some much more exotic cars (I’m looking at you McLaren) that had their hands full today and I don’t think this is a case of me being a better driver but rather that the 911 caters to drivers at many levels while something like a 570S requires the driver to bring serious game to extract the full range of performance that car is capable of. I also think the delta between the GTS and the GT3 is a lot less than I would originally thought.

I neglected to add comments about the PDK. In short, it delivered an experience I would never have imagined and on a track the capabilities of this drivetrain are hard to argue with. Sport+ mode on the street is pretty annoying with the high shift points and aggressive downshifts, but on a track I totally get it now. The shifts are remarkably fast and, more critically, always right for what you are feeling. I get that people want to shift gears but not once did I feel the need to go manual today.

PTV+ is like RAS insofar as not having a equivalent car without that feature to compare against and therefore not knowing how if affects the car. I just don’t know how to know what it is doing and when.

Great write-up. Does your car have the sport PASM? And if so, in which mode did you drive it on track.

My track buddy runs a GT4 with MPSC2 tires and I was right on his times. He could carry more energy out of the tight turns, the 1-2 combo and 11, and I would have to rely on HP to catch him. I think a lot of that has to do with the tires. It was cold yesterday with a strong wind chill in addition to the marine layer. It felt like the PZeroes just didn’t warm up until my last session and it was then that I really felt the car connecting. Another comment was made about session time, yes I was doing 20 minute sessions after that last one I inspected the tires and they looked just like should, a little shredded, very sticky but not greasy. It made me consider that on a warmer day these tires would have been a mess. The MPSC2s are a better tire, period.

Good point about RAS and camber. I am running the factory alignment and on my drive home was considering what alignment changes would be appropriate for track and street use. This is a daily driver for me, but I don’t drive a lot of miles to begin with. What I just don’t know is how camber and PDCC + Sport PASM work together and it is longer and wider than any generation before with the car engineerer with weight nearest the roll center. There is a good body of collective experience on 991s, time to do some reading.

The Backdraft Cobra is a car that tests you while also reminding everyone else at the track about the brilliance of Carroll Shelby. The simple equation of big engine in a lightweight car with big tires overlooks why that car is so amazing on a track. Shelby placed the engine well behind the front suspension, in fact the foot boxes are so far forward (2 cylinders up on the engine) that you end up sitting a few degrees off the centerline of the car. He took advantage of something that Porsche also benefits from, a low polar moment of inertia. I can’t drive it at Laguna because of the sound restrictions but at Thunderhill, especially the 3 mile layout, car is a blast to drive because it is so at home on long straights and sweeping turns.

Thanks for posting. I was very interested to read this as my other car is a Factory Five Cobra with 470hp and no drivers aids and only 2400 lbs with me in it. Totally different beast. Do you have any plans to take your 911 to Thunderhill? Would love to see a comparison of lap times on a common circuit between the 2! If you don't mind post up a picture of your Backdraft or if you are on instagram message me @scottscobra. I have a Cobra content based account I highlight cars from around the world.