Sports Cars - Porsche Carrera GT
It's common practice for a well-known sports car manufacturer to take the leap and attempt to release the ultimate supercar. All the big names have done it: Lamborghini, Ferrari, Mercedes, and in 2004, Porsche did it too with their Carrera GT. Porsche's version of a supercar is a long time in the making.
They went completely outside of their comfort zone and delivered an automobile that has the body style of a Ferrari but offers the reliable performance that clearly screams Porsche. Through two years until 2006, the company produced 1,270 of these cars. Its predecessor was the GT1 - a supercar in it's own right, although built strictly for racing.
Porsche's supercar is a bit contradictory. For starters, they used some serious state-of-the-art technology in a lot of aspects of the automobile; however, in other aspects, the Carrera GT operates much like a standard Porsche.
With a pure carbon-fiber monocoque and subframe, the car is light and easy to handle. It also features inboard suspension and an extremely large radiator. However, separate from other supercar rivals, the Carrera GT features traction control instead of the latest dynamic stability control. But all in all, Porsche has over 75 technology patents for their Carrera GT alone.
The Carrera GT might be a supercar, but its sleek exterior and comfortable interior make it a sought after roadster as well. The interior is completely decked out in soft leather, and for a two-door, it boasts a lot of room inside. It also has state-of-the-art navigation system and a Bose audio system to provide entertainment.
Keeping with the Porsche tradition, the ignition of the car is found on the left-hand side, enabling the driver to simultaneously start the car and put it in gear with his or her right hand. No one needs to start out of the gate that quickly on the road, but the design feature is more of a carry-over from the days of racing.
The Porsche Carrera GT engine is no joke. It climbs to over 125mph in only 10 seconds and can achieve 0 to 60 in 3.5. Its maximum speed only takes it up to 205, but that's still faster than many competitors sharing the road.
The GT gets its speed and power from the 5.7 liter V10 engine under the hood. Putting out 612 horsepower, the Carrera is a real piece of monster machinery. The transmission isn't very detailed. The straightforward design is a basic six-speed manual gearbox.
Although Porsche's supercar can compete with other models on the road without giving up an inch of leeway, the Carrera GT does better on price than the entire lot. Of course, it's still rather expensive, coming in at around $440-thousand, but in comparison to some supercars, that's a virtual steal.
