2008 Porsche GT3 Cup

After waiting over a year, my new car finally arrived! I flew down to Atlanta within a few days of it's arrival to check it out and get some seat time, on Dec 14, 2008. On the evening of the 13th I had a chance to check out the amazing new Farnbacher-Loles shop near Road Atlanta, and all the Rolex GT3 cup cars getting ready for the Daytona 24 hour race. They would be testing these pro racing cars while I was learning to drive my new car.

Here is more info on the specs of the new 2008 GT3 cup from the Porsche website.

Some pictures :

The front splitter removed for loading on trailer:

On air jacks, suspension does not droop much due to stiff springs, even with "helper" springs. Splitter is still off:

Front splitter is on, no tools required, just snaps in:

Under the front showing smooth underbody and air jacks:

Controls and sequential shifter. red round control with R F on it is brake bias controller. MOTEC dashboard and datalog system is standard equipment, shows the brake bias and many other things including lap times. The shifter has a sensor which kills the engine for a moment when you pull back on it to upshift, without lifting the throttle or using the clutch. This makes upshifts super-fast and simple, no way to miss an upshift and destroy your engine. I missed two upshifts on my 1973 911, bending valves, which required expensive rebuilds. If you accidentally push the shifter FORWARD you will downshift and kill the engine so you need to think. Downshifts with the sequential do require using the clutch and blipping the throttle to match revs and avoid locking up the rear tires. This is a little tricky and the transmission clunks. I need to work on the downshifts.

Here is the Motec, displaying revs on the curve (8500 redline at the top) with yellow SHIFT lights. By the time they are on, you had better have your hand moving towards the shifter or you will be too late.

Silver knob on bottom is for defogging windshield or blowing cool air at driver, a nice upgrade over 996 GT3 cup which was not driver-adjustable. Black toggle is ignition, no more key. A starting button is on the left where the key would normally go. Electronic fire system controller is below, a small red box.

Starting button can be seen near the stalk on the left and the cool air tube. OMP steering wheel is smaller than the 996 wheel and very comfortable.

The previous Recaro seat is replaced by a Hans-friendly FIA-homologated OMP seat made from Carbon Fiber. The seat is very nice, but needs some more padding for my bony back. About a $2500 seat.

Front brakes are big and strong. They still have the lousy drilled "bling" rotors, so Porsche can make money selling us new rotors every other race. I wish they at least added better brake ducting, but then they would lose a good source of revenue.

Rear brakes are big too, but calipers are much smaller. However they don't work very hard - rear pads last many races and rear rotors usually last a year or more.

The power steering pump is now electrical like the RSR, good for a few HP. Also nice for balance to move it up front and down low. The front air jack is just behind it in the front trunk.

The brakes are now a true racing setup, with seperate cylinders front and rear with a balance bar. No more ABS which I never liked. ABS on the 996 GT3 cup caused me to damage my car at the Glen when the tire delaminated and I could not lock up the tires, causing a slow spin into the wall. The rotating tire carcass also acted like a giant weed-whacker and cut my left rear fender off the car because I could not lock up the wheels. ABS was nice in the rain though...

The sway bars are blade type, this is the rear. Just turn that nut to rotate the bar to stiffen or loosen it (I think!).

Here is the new exhaust, it does not stick out as much so should be less prone to damage. It also sounds cooler :)

Here is the heart of the car, finally has more HP than the street GT3 (420 hp). Big Gulp takes cool air from the decklid.

Here is a shot of the cool engine mounts. And some bird left his mark on the engine somehow (German or American?)

I hope it stays this clean forever, though the color needs to go.

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