Porsche

[jitahs]

Sigh...

[sk_tle]

Don't apologize for thread drift
This place is thread drift central.
You get 1 free month at V-s for your drift.

Speaking of drift...Monte-Carlo rally 2015 started last night. 3 Porsche 911 RGT are registered, with François Delecour, Marc Duez and Romain Dumas.

Here is a footage of François Delecour testing the car prior to the race.

[jitahs]

Looks fast as stink in the dry, porky in the snow.

[sk_tle]

Looks fast as stink in the dry, porky in the snow.

Yeah but that's not completely a Porsche thing. Same happens to the WRC cars although it is mitigated by the AWD. That's the difficulty of Monte Carlo and the reason it is a legend. The road is rarely completely dry or completely covered on snow. You often can't afford to ride studded tires in these conditions and a compromise must be done with a very hard choice of tires, ending up with a car that is almost never perfect for the conditions.

In this video of Loeb, fast forward to 1:55 and look at the difference of speed between the snow covered part and the dry one:

[jitahs]

Surely the co-driver had that ice patch @ 2:52...

[SteveP]

What a commute.
He must have been really late for work.

No traffic anyway

[Lionel]

Yeah but that's not completely a Porsche thing. Same happens to the WRC cars although it is mitigated by the AWD. That's the difficulty of Monte Carlo and the reason it is a legend. The road is rarely completely dry or completely covered on snow. You often can't afford to ride studded tires in these conditions and a compromise must be done with a very hard choice of tires, ending up with a car that is almost never perfect for the conditions.

In this video of Loeb, fast forward to 1:55 and look at the difference of speed between the snow covered part and the dry one:

Holly shit

[liv2bike]

That was absolutely insane and fantastic at the same time. Those co-drivers...I was getting sick watching it. I couldn't imagine being in the car. Strong stomachs.

[Too Tall]

Nuts. I'd have to walk around the corners.

[Philster]

I think that Porsche has suffered from an identity issue in the recent past. Coming out with yet another (low end) model really only serves to dilute the brand even more unless they do away with another line to make space (i.e. Panamera, Macan, Cayenne). The market for the cars these days also cares less about absolute performance and more about status/exclusivity. I went to look @ a GT3 RS and was totally appalled to see that it comes stock with satnav. Getting this removed from the car is an up-charge! Who needs satnav in what is ostensibly a street legal track car with a friggin roll bar?!

Of course there are other faster cars out there.. the Focus or the Nissan GT-R, but I'd like to think that people buy a Porsche (Ferrari or any other impractical sports car) for reasons beyond the cold specs.
You can get a watch that tells perfect time for a heck of a lot less than a mechanical Swiss watch, yet the mechanical watch still has a following.

OK, rant over.

Not sure about ROW, but in the US I don't think there is a 991 GT3 RS yet. Porsche has never really felt the need to cater to a lower price point. My interest in the 911 stopped with the 997.2 but the fact is they doing a spectacular job serving their market. If you you want something light and cheap in a Porsche I think you have to find a used one and start building.

Hey, I think there is something about building in the topic line!

[seankanary]

Not sure about ROW, but in the US I don't think there is a 991 GT3 RS yet. Porsche has never really felt the need to cater to a lower price point. My interest in the 911 stopped with the 997.2 but the fact is they doing a spectacular job serving their market. If you you want something light and cheap in a Porsche I think you have to find a used one and start building.

Hey, I think there is something about building in the topic line!

Just as a reference point for power to weight to money... Our builds start around 90k. That gets you a 2150lb race-ready car that meets all safety requirements (SCCA, HSR, SVRA, FIA, etc.) and a twin plug 3.0L with 320+/- hp.

[seankanary]

One of our customers in Colorado races pro and recently had his RSR in for some gearbox work at GMG. This car has been raced pretty hard for around 7 years.

The Perfect Exposure: 1974 John James Racing.Porsche 911 RSR Replica Race Car in for Gearbox Service at GMG Racing

[Too Tall]

D@@@@@@mn what a great car. You cats do amazing work.

One of our customers in Colorado races pro and recently had his RSR in for some gearbox work at GMG. This car has been raced pretty hard for around 7 years.

The Perfect Exposure: 1974 John James Racing.Porsche 911 RSR Replica Race Car in for Gearbox Service at GMG Racing

[Philster]

Speaking of drift...Monte-Carlo rally 2015 started last night. 3 Porsche 911 RGT are registered, with François Delecour, Marc Duez and Romain Dumas.

Here is a footage of François Delecour testing the car prior to the race.

This is great. Thanks for posting. What's interesting to me is how slow some of the corners are, even for a modern super machine. You can really understand how, in days gone by, a 2-stroke SAAB or a Mini could humble some more powerful cars.

[jitahs]

What's surprising is the weight of a WRC car vs. what a good track car, like what Sean builds, weighs. The Polo goes 2600+ lbs...perhaps it's the ideal weight for those conditions whether or not there are kg/hp rules...

[devlin]

Thread stretch, but any P-Car fans following the speculation around Porsche doing a lower cost "entry" sports car?

Lightweight, tight handling, minimal creature comforts, 200 HP +/- from a simple four banger.

The discussion comes up now and again amongst aficionados. I could get into something like that as a daily driver and smile inducer.

Toyota and Subaru did this recently with their 86/BRZ collaboration model. From all reports I've read the handling i s as good as any factory Porsche but just lacking in outright HP. (sorry for the blasphemy).

[christian]

What's surprising is the weight of a WRC car vs. what a good track car, like what Sean builds, weighs. The Polo goes 2600+ lbs...perhaps it's the ideal weight for those conditions whether or not there are kg/hp rules...

It's not that surprising - a rally car keeps much of the unibody, lights, wipers, adds a very big cage intended to protect two occupants, and is filled with two additional diffs, two extra driveshafts, boxed and strengthened a arms and control arms, a substantially more complex wire harness, heavy wheels and tires, two spare tires, 90l of fuel, tools, water, oil, an extra seat, etc.

Lighter is better but 2600 is ok for a car that takes that kind of punishment. If you put rally wheels and tires on a stock car and drove hard from the start line of a stage, it's 50/50 the car would last half a mile without lunching something. Driving on a track is just as hard on the engine but the wear on the suspension, transmission, and hard parts of a rally aren't really comparable.

I guess the analogy would be road bikes vs. all-mountain bikes.

[devlin]

Yes and no. I've 'unofficially' rallied some of my cheaper road cars on fire trails when I was much younger and probably a fair bit irresponsible and they lasted a fair while. Even had a regular water bar we used to launch the Toyota over. Of course the cross member over time ended up with a 90 deg twist in the middle but nothing else that I know of broke on it. having said that rallying something like that and a full on WRC spec car are at the two far ends of the spectrum.

[Kentf14]

Took a rest day and drove one of my ride routes up into the Marin Headlands before the rain comes tomorrow.

Marin Headlands

[Too Tall]

Stunning car. Don't park directly over the fault line, just sayin'.