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2004 Porsche GT3 Review
Beauty and the Beast: An Owner's Perspective (continued) |
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A week later and I’m back at Willow Springs once more, for another 60-lap day. The car felt completely different now- balanced, steady, stable at high speed mid-corner, predictable and fairly easy to drive, so it was true, these cars are very sensitive to alignment. I also had with me Judy Ray, my long time driving instructor. She is the co-owner of Driving Concepts, and a veteran of six years racing in Porsche cars. She showed me how to drive the car, and then sat in the passenger seat as I slowly built up my P-car skills. Judy says that the thing to remember with a Porsche is that, "The engine in the back really wants to be in the front, and it’ll do anything it can to get there."
I discovered she was correct. You really have to drive for the rear weight bias; two things that are key to accomplishing this well are "slow in, fast out," and "never lift." The idea first may be rather obvious, as straight line braking avoids the possibility of over rotation of the "pendulum out back" (the engine), often the result of trail braking. But the second idea, "never lift," is less obvious.
As you feed power through the accelerator, the rear of the car really squats down, and begins to hook-up hard. This plants the motor’s weight hard on the rear contact patches, and really helps to stabilize the car. It will go through a corner much better under power, and it loves to be blasted from apex to exit. Under power the GT3 is stable, controllable and predictable, it's when you come off the power that the pendulum behind you tries to move to the front - fast, so stay on the power, and you’ll stay in control.
I had to scrape my heart off the roof of my mouth a few times, but I’ve got it now, and I’m addicted to my GT3, it is a blast! That said, I was still off my old pace in the M3, but now that I've been shown "the way," I'm confident it's just a matter of time, practice, and more instruction.
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