2004 Porsche Carrera GT

There are guided missiles with less impressive performance credentials than those engineered into Porsche's Carrera GT. Thanks to a body structure molded in carbon-fiber-reinforced composites and other exotic weight-saving gestures, it weighs but 3,137 pounds, full of fuel. It's loaded with a race-bred 5.7-liter DOHC V-10 engine equipped with four valves per cylinder, variable intake valve timing, dual control computers, a dry-sump lubrication system, and forged titanium connecting rods; output peaks with 605 horsepower at 8,000 rpm but another 400 revs are there for the taking. A 6.6-inch-diameter multi-plate carbon fiber clutch dispatches power to a transversely oriented 6-speed gearbox. Special Flexball shift actuators use a flat steel band guided by ball bearings to connect the driver's palm to each gear. Center-lock magnesium wheels are supported by a mix of forged aluminum and airfoil-section stainless steel control arms. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 radials strive to maintain a grip with terra firma.

It is what it is.

Thanks to a recent test session sponsored by Porsche at Adria International Raceway near Venice, Italy, I can tell you precisely how well this exotic componentry works. Since it was a one-day affair, no time was frittered on espresso breaks. Punch the start button and the cockpit becomes a concert hall of whirring chains, swirling fluids, rattling gears, and exhaust-powered reverberation. The clutch is touchy, so the recommended roll-out procedure is careful engagement with no throttle and full faith in the idle speed management system to keep the fires lit. It works as advertised.


Once rolling, you leg the extruded-aluminum gas pedal to experience Porsche engineering at its finest. Tip the throttles con brio and the forward acceleration—0.86g according to my test equipment—feels better than deep-muscle massage. It's that rip-head-from-shoulders ecstasy that practitioners of the octane religion worship. The rear Michelins suffer this abuse with amazing grace, though there are ways to ease their pain: allow the traction control system to modulate the slippage or muster the discipline to ease your lead foot off the throttle. The second method requires years of training and a monk's willpower to perfect.


Steering response is RIGHT NOW. By comparison, shifter karts feel sluggish. This is Formula 1-grade kinetic energy: wrists command, car complies. Since you bond with the molded carbon fiber bucket seat like a plug in a socket, the g-loads dart through your nervous system at warp speed.

This is Formula 1-grade kinetic energy: wrists command, car complies.

Motoring around this neck of the Italian woods was largely an exercise in passing trucks and avoiding contact with civilians bent on obeying the rigorously enforced speed limit. After a few jaunts to prime photo locations, I hustled back to the 1.68-mile racetrack for higher-speed joy riding and serious performance measurements.