Porsche began developing the Carrera GT in 1999 as a successor to the 911 GT1 car they had discontinued in late 1998 because of FIA rule changes. However, there was speculation that Porsche discontinued development at the behest of VW/Audi chairman Ferdinand Piëch - Piëch was reportedly concerned over the prospect of a Porsche vehicle competing against the Audi R8 race car, which had just been introduced. As a member of the Porsche family, Piëch holds a seat on the company's board of directors and owns a percentage of the firm, so his influence could be exacted from inside. In addition, Porsche needed to free up capital and manpower for development work on the Cayenne, and dropping development of the race car made it possible.
Porsche did however produce one unit, and showed it at the 2000 Geneva Motor Show, mainly in an attempt to draw attention to their display. Surprising interest in the vehicle and an influx of revenue being provided by the Cayenne helped Porsche decide to make use of the car, and development started on a road-legal version that would be produced in small numbers at Porsche's new manufacturing facility in Leipzig. Porsche started a production run of Carrera GTs in 2004, shipping the units with an MSRP of $440,000 USD and a dealer invoice price of approximately $414,800 USD. In addition, the delivery charge could be as much as $15,000 USD. The first Carrera GT went on sale in the US on Jan 31, 2004.
Originally, a production run of 1,500 cars was slated. But Porsche announced in August, 2005 that it would not continue production of the Carrera GT throughout 2006. Porsche announced that this discontinuation was due to changing airbag regulations in the US. However, reports of diminishing sales volumes, relatively high dealer inventory levels, and dealer discounts below MSRP were reported by the automotive press as being the true factors driving an early end to the production run[citation needed]. Despite the early end to production, sales of the Carrera GT were a huge success, with worldwide sales volumes surpassing the combined totals of Ferrari's Enzo Ferrari, Mercedes' SLR McLaren, and Pagani's Zonda models.
As of May 6, 2006, 1,270 GT's had been sold, with 604 being sold in the United States.
Design
The Carrera GT is powered by an all-new 5.7 litre V10 engine producing 612 DIN (605 SAE) horsepower (450 kW) whereas the original concept car featured a 5.5 litre version rated at 558 hp (416 kW). Porsche claims it will accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62.5 mph) in 3.9 seconds and has a maximum speed of 330 km/h (205 mph), although road tests indicated that in reality the car could accelerate from 0-60 in under 3.5 seconds and to 0-100 in 6.8 seconds and has a top speed of 336-346 km/h (209-215.2 mph). The Carrera GT has a basic 5 colour paint schemes which include: Black, Guards Red, Fayence Yellow, Basalt Black, GT Silver and Seal Grey. Custom colors were also available from the factory. A six-speed manual transmission is the only available transmission, in contrast to its rival the Enzo Ferrari which is only offered with sequential manual transmission. Attached to this gearbox is a birch/ash gearknob which pays homage to the wooden gearknob used in the Porsche 917 Le Mans racers. With the Enzo Ferrari priced initially around $660,000, the Carrera GT base price of $448,400 makes the dream of owning a piece of Le Mans inspired technology somewhat more attainable. The Carrera GT is also priced at $600,000 in Canadian dollars, and at 390,000 in Euros.
The Carrera GT has large side inlets and airdams that help cool the large V-10 that lies framed by the carbon fibre rear hood. Fitted with Porsche's latest brake system, the 15 inch ceramic pad brakes make a stunning appearance underneath the 19 inch front and 20 inch rear tires. Similar to other Porsche Models, the GT includes an automated rear wing spoiler which deploys in the higher ranges of speed (70 mph).
Technology
The Porsche Carrera GT's carbon-ceramic (silicon carbide) disc brake
Technology of note includes a pure carbon fibre monocoque and subframe, dry sump lubrication and inboard suspension. The carbon fibre monocoque and subframe were produced and assembled by the ATR Composites Group of Italy. The main innovation on this vehicle however is the drivetrain:
The Carrera GT uses a clutch made of a high-tech ceramic material. This is the first appearance of this race car technology in a road car. The clutch, although difficult to master, allows the engine to sit lower in the chassis than in any other super car, both improving its aerodynamics and lowering its center of gravity. Additionally, the engineers successfully avoided the use of a flywheel, which would represent a mass damper stabilizing the engine running, by using a hollow shaft that acts as a torsional damper between clutch and gearbox. Getting rid of the flywheel results in a very direct and quick engine response, as well as freeing up engine power under acceleration that would ordinarily be consumed by spinning up the flywheel.
Despite a seemingly difficult clutch, Porsche incorporated computer management of the clutch when the car is on an incline. Drivers are able to lift completely off the clutch and not stall the car.
Unlike some of its rivals, the Carrera GT does not use the same electronic driving aids such as dynamic stability control, but it does have traction control.
Porsche claims over 75 technology patents have been filed from development of the Carrera GT.
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