Grant:

In your mind, what was responsible for the unfriendly behavior?  Chassis geometry and kinematics?  Did you mess with alignment?

I asked Doc Bundy who was one of my instructors at a "Carrera GT Driving Experience" in 2005 at Barber what mods they made to alignment or tire pressures for the track event.  He said that it was absolutely stock factory values, so I never tried anything but rear anti-roll bar changes.  Hurley Heywood was also an instructor at the 2005 Barber event and I made him nervous by trying to drive the CGT like a 911.  He was screaming over the wind and motor noise, "This car has VERY SENSITIVE steering!"  Another of the participants spun in front of Hurley and me cresting up-hill at Turn 4 and I asked for Hurley's opinion of what caused the spin.  His reply was, "He lifted".

I never really got a straight answer about Carrera GT handling from anyone at Porsche, although they agreed it was "challenging" for those drivers not accustomed to its quirks.  There was even a little condescension regarding drivers who might complain about CGT handling quirks as if making it more drivable would spoil all the fun.

I attended the August, 2011 long-lead reveal of the 918 at Weissach where we signed multiple NDAs to find out what was brewing with the development of the 918.  We were allowed to roam around the development shops and interact with VPs of Engineering etc., and I asked lots of questions about areas of improvement over the Carrera GT.

The best explanation I ever heard was the influence of Carrera GT development test drivers.  They mostly had karting backgrounds before joining PAG.  Locked-rear-axle karts don't turn in very well and are driven most quickly by using lots of rear-wagging tricks to kick out the rear end as a way to successfully rotate in corners.  High slip angles at the rear are a kart drivers friend.  Karts are lots more responsive to inputs with low yaw inertia, etc.  If one is used to chucking a kart into corners by flicking out the rear end and correction-steering one's way out of the corner, that goes against my ingrained 911-pilot wiring.  I like a planted rear end because 911s that don't plant the rear end tend to go off the path backwards.

I'm not a professional driver and I grew up tracking 911s.  That may be the primary reason I think the CGT is not good for my health.  However, the 918 is my friend.

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Mike

 

918 Spyder + Tesla Roadster 1.5 & Model S P100D AP2 + Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid +  BMW Z8 + BMW 3.0 CSi + Bentley Arnage T