Transcript of The Porsche Carrera GT is fine. Until it’s not. — Spotlight feat. Jason Cammisa — Ep. 7 [UHD 4K]
ISSIMI Official
0:00the entire porsche mystique revolves0:02around the original 9110:04which makes no sense to normal people0:06why do car guys0:07idolize the car that made its reputation0:09by spinning out and killing people0:12we're not normal that's the answer to0:13that question but seriously there have0:15been many porsches since0:16but almost all of them lack that one0:19thing that links the original 9110:21to the carrera gt it's bad temperature0:31porsche produced almost 1300 carrera gts0:35quite a lot considering it cost half a0:37million dollars0:38that's half as much as the mclaren f1 100:41years before it0:42of which just 64 road cars were made0:45like the f1 the cgt had just over 6000:48horsepower0:50and a six-speed manual and it was made0:52out of carbon fiber0:53mid-engine rear-wheel drive blah blah0:55blah that's where the similarities end0:58because the porsche was supposed to be0:59stupidly light1:01and it's not the carrera gt weighs 31461:04pounds1:05which isn't all that heavy but it's not1:07really that light either it's 567 pounds1:10more than a mclaren f11:13but who's counting me still the thing1:16was an1:16absolute monster getting to 60 and 3.51:19seconds1:20it screamed through the quarter mile1:22just one-tenth behind the mclaren f11:24and it easily broke the 200 mile an hour1:27barrier1:28it is also one of the best sounding cars1:31of all time in fact i used to think it1:33was the best sounding car of all time1:35and then i drove it and realized that1:37inside a lexus lfa sounds better but1:39none of this is important at all to1:42understand the carrera gt you need to1:44understand how the carrera gt came to be1:46because this this is something that1:48could have only ever happened at porsche1:50back in the 1980s porsche was making1:53formula one engines1:54designed by the father of all porsche1:57motor masterpieces1:59hans metzger it was a v6 it had turbos2:02it ran at over2:0360 pounds of boost it made a thousand2:06horsepower out of just a liter and a2:08half2:08it was epic2:12because metzger when turbos got kicked2:15out of f12:16porsche returned with a v12 which2:18metzger made by sticking two of his v6s2:20together2:21it was a naturally aspirated three and a2:23half liter 80 degree v122:25it was called the type 3512 and it was2:29an unmitigated disaster the engine was2:32too big and way too heavy and the only2:34thing it did better than not making2:36nearly enough horsepower2:38was to blow up constantly but of course2:40porsche can never let anything go so2:42their head of engine development this2:44guy named herbert2:45is like oh i can fix yo2:48engine but it still won't be too big and2:51it's still gonna be too heavy2:52and his boss was all like do it do it2:55now2:56so herbert goes to work and he actually2:58makes the engine reliable2:59and gives it to his boss and his boss is3:02like3:02congratulation that was a waste of time3:05you said it was too big and it was too3:08heavy3:08and now you have an engine that's too3:10big and too heavy we can't use it into3:12formula one racing3:14now we can never race in formula one3:16seriously i can't make this stuff up3:18and herbert's like excuse me3:21you don't think i can build a formula3:22one engine i could build a formula one3:24engine3:25and horse is all like no i don't and he3:28was like3:28oh it is own home3:31it took him three years but herbert3:34designed a formula one v103:36that was three and a half liters revved3:37to 143:39800 rpm and made a reliable 7603:43horsepower3:44so what's horse reaction congratulations3:48you make the world's perfect3:49v10 engine i don't care put it away3:52get it out of my face and go back to3:55working with racing3:56on the flat six engine so porsche3:59literally does4:00nothing with the formula one engine4:02herbert made instead it goes back to4:04racing gt1 for a couple years4:06after those successes management agrees4:08that it's time to put the smackdown at4:10le mans4:11listen to the crowd there is the photo4:14opportunity porsche4:16wins they created a le mans prototype4:18for the year 20004:20that's imaginatively named lmp4:232000 so they dusted off the old formula4:26one v104:27punched it out to over five liters put a4:29conventional valve train in and4:31shoved it in their all-new lamar4:33prototype the lmp2000 quickly set a lap4:36record at vaisakh the car was just about4:38to race4:40and enter vendolen veda king the ceo4:44he's like how many times have we won le4:46mans4:4716 and ferrari is in second place with4:50only eight then we don't need a 17th win4:53they are still in second place i have an4:56idea4:57give me this money get rid of that la4:59more prototype car give me the money5:01and i will use it to turn a volkswagen5:04tuareg into a push at cayenne5:10excuse me ew but he really did and we5:14know how that turned out5:15ka-ching meanwhile porsche's mucking5:17about with suvs and rumors start flying5:20around5:20about all these new hyper cars ferrari's5:23to do an5:23enzo mercedes is partnering with mclaren5:26to do an5:27slr and bugatti's coming back5:30vida king is all oh hell nine5:34vr porsche we are the makers of the best5:36sports cars in the world5:38do it now and how do you make a car in a5:41hurry well you dust off your old half5:43completed homework5:44that is the v10 that was supposed to be5:47in the formula one car5:48that became the v10 that was supposed to5:51be in the le mans car5:52and here it is in the carrera gt punched5:54out to 5.7 liters5:56making it the largest engine in any5:58porsche road car6:00in the world ever6:03and the car all carbon fiber made by the6:05same company who produced the enzo for6:07ferrari6:08the entire body structure weighed just6:10220 pounds6:12and like the lemon car it had push rod6:14suspension6:15the mounting point for the front shocks6:18is at the base of the windshield6:20so when you're driving one of these6:22bumps sound like they're coming from the6:23top of the dashboard6:26because porsche never had a trademark6:27front-end grille like the rolls-royce6:29pantheon or bmw's kidneys6:31the design had to be recognizable as a6:33porsche6:34by how the surfaces work together not by6:36the shape of its individual design6:38elements6:39as a result the carrera gt which was6:41designed in california6:43looked like absolutely nothing else but6:45it was6:46unmistakably a porsche plus it has6:48centerlock wheels with color-coded nuts6:52blue on this side red on the other i6:53mean come on6:56the interior was spectacularly luxurious6:59with things like7:00enormous storage for your wallet inside7:03the doors7:04and high-tech lumbar support that you7:06could move around thanks to the miracle7:08of7:09velcro i'm joking i actually love the7:11carrera gt's interior because it's7:13completely7:14devoid of any gimmicks in fact the only7:16thing that stands out at all7:18is the gear shifter and even that is a7:20historically correct homage to the 9177:23racing cars which also used7:24beechwood it's a little tough to get in7:27and out of7:28but once you're in this thing man does7:30it just work as a car7:32and i only have one real complaint about7:34the way it drives which is that compared7:35to the contemporary 911 the 9967:38the steering's a little bit dead but7:40that's it7:41otherwise this thing is magic and it's7:43easy to live with in fact7:45this thing is about as easy to live with7:47and as easy to drive as the original7:49acura nsx7:50in every way except for the clutch7:55much has already been said about the7:56carrera gt's clutch7:58the engine has no flywheel whatsoever8:01and the clutch is a multi-plate8:02composite of8:03carbon with silicon carbide it's half8:05the size you'd expect8:076.7 inches in diameter compared to the8:09contemporary 911 turbos8:1111 and a half is it difficult to drive8:14well8:15no not if you've ever driven a car with8:17a race clutch and a light flywheel8:19it's the same thing just maybe a little8:20bit more with no flywheel it's easy to8:23stall but you don't have to be afraid of8:24the clutch8:25porsche tested it and it survived 168:28000 race starts which means that if8:31you're on a big hill and you're afraid8:32of8:33starting out and stalling your carrera8:34gt you just dump the clutch8:37as long as the owner isn't around the8:39thing that porsche does better than any8:41other car company in the world8:42is to make engine gearbox shifter clutch8:45things that all work8:46perfectly together to help you shift8:49even better and more smoothly8:50with no flywheel the revs drop8:53immediately8:54so your shifts have to be very quick but8:56the carrera gt is one of the best8:58shifting manual transmission cars i've9:00ever driven9:01ever the benefit to all this tnc clutch9:04stuff is that it lets the cgt's engine9:06be mounted lower than any other car9:08ever before it the top of the cylinder9:11heads are barely above the axle center9:13line9:13the very top of the engine is below my9:15knees the lowest rotating part of the9:18crankshaft is less than9:19four inches from the ground obviously9:22all of that stuff was done9:23to help handling and um9:27awkward um look you know the car's9:30reputation right9:30but the weird thing is all of the early9:33road tests i could find of the carrera9:34gt9:35boasted about how unbelievably easy it9:38was to control at the limit9:41i don't get it and yet despite this one9:43gt9:44got written off on the press launch9:46rumor has it that walter rohl crashed9:48another at the nurburgring during9:49development9:50then porsche asked jay leno to come to9:52talladega to set some speed records9:55and he did but he also spun the car at9:57190 miles an hour doing it10:00and top gear stig who some say isn't10:03even human10:04couldn't control it and then of course10:07there was the crash that killed paul10:08walker10:09cementing the cgt's reputation as a10:11demonic death machine10:13unearthed in the lawsuit was a porsche10:15internal email10:16posting that by the time production10:18ended 200 of the cgt's had10:21already been totaled so who do you10:24believe10:25i don't know i called one of my buddies10:27who's one of the guys who wrote the10:28original road test of this car10:29and he said yeah no it was a total peach10:32it was easy to slide around it never bit10:34him10:34it was amazing and there's been years of10:36speculation that maybe the problem was10:38actually10:39the original michelin tires which had a10:41super short shelf life10:43maybe that's why michelin made an10:45all-new tire specifically for the10:46carrera gt10:48seven years after the carrera gt went10:50out of production10:51i don't know so i called another friend10:53who's a professional race car driver10:54and he's driven one of the cgt's on the10:57new tires and i said10:58hey how was it and he said it was11:01diabolical11:02i don't know i mean it's all over the11:04place maybe the cars that were delivered11:06to customers were different than the11:07original press cars11:09but get this i talked to somebody else11:11who used to own a mclaren f111:13and he said it was just as bad as the11:15carrera gt11:16so maybe maybe 600 horsepower is just11:19the upper limit11:21for a mid-engine supercar without11:23stability control11:24all i know is the rule about the carrera11:26gt is this it's11:28totally fine until it's not11:31and by the way if that isn't the11:32ultimate catchphrase for the ultimate11:35porsche11:36i don't know what is12:06you
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