Quote:
icon said:
w/ the gov't regulations what do you see as a realistic possibility on weight reduction?
what should porsche's target weight be for the street legal gt3?
jeff



Now that's a good (tough) question.

GT3 is tied to C2/C4/Turbo and thus has many limitations. Add in worldwide legislation as well as demand for luxurious features and the fact that the street GT3 weighs little more than a GT3 Cup (at home, nearly headed for bed, so don't have the figures handy and don't want to work from memory) is deeply impressive. It's not a huge gap from GT3 Cup to GT3 considering safety features, climate control, A/C, a full interior, heavy seats, etc.

And the new cars are NOT as heavy as we like to think they are. When we weighed a 1989 911 for a recent test, it came out at 2,900+ pounds with a half-tank, or within one pound of the 1999 986 in the same test.

I guess I'd like to see 50 pounds trimmed with each new generation/update. As we saw from 993 to 996. It wouldn't fix anything right away, but as the years pile on, we would reap some serious benefits, much as we have with horsepower over the last 20 years.

I'd just like to see the technology applied to keep weight down while adding features used to get the weight down.

But, unless we as consumers and governments as legislative bodies, make some changes -- or Porsche takes a bold (and risky/impossible to justify) step, I don't see any changes anytime soon.

And I am very glad that Boxsters don't weigh the same as Elises. A drive in both make it obvious why 2,000-pound cars, as good/fun/exciting as they are, have their compromises in the real world.

pete