for those who aren´t in the DL/RV club, here`s the report:
- Porsche Leipzig Carrera GT experience -
so where should i start… oct.21st , 22nd 2003, two days i won`t forget in my entire life, that´s for sure…
i arrived by plane at approx. 11am at leipzig airport, being met there by a Porsche representative and were transferered to the customer center with a Cayenne TT :shock:
the facility is just some minutes away from the airport, so i took the opportunity to have lunch at the customer center’s restaurant, which is on the third level of the center’s tower.
it`s very contemporary, stylish and really relaxing with a marvellous view over the factory’s area. the 100 foot diamond-shaped tower is the centerpiece of the leipzig facility, which can accommodate up to 500ppl. on the ground floor is the reception area where cars ( 955 ) are prepared for customer collection. there`re four delivery suites on the right where brand new Cayennes were waiting inside to be collected by their owners. there`s also a VIP lounge with a bar and flat screen TV´s where you can enjoy personalised service and a first view of the test track layout. on the first floor is the Selection shop which offers a wide variety of accessoires on disply, including a range of clothing and other products. on the next floor a 54-seater cinema is located where the presentation videos are watched. we saw a film about the facility in leipzig and the Cayenne, a technical overview of the CGT, and for the very first time, the official CGT video featuring Walter Röhrl. that floor also holds the test track control center and the small seminar room. the control center has 32 monitors and four additional ones for the offroad track. the race track is FIA certified, 3707.109m long and 12m wide. as you might know, the track is a combination of several racing circuits around the world featuring corners like the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca, Parabolica and Curve di Lesmo at Monza, Loews at Monaco, Bus Stop at Spa-Francorchamps, the Mobil S at Nürburgring or the S`s at Suzuka.
http://www.porsche-leipzig.com/de/erfahren/strecke.htm
on the third floor is the 900m² auditorium with a capacity of 500ppl including a full size stage. right behind the auditorium is the restaurant, where you can choose from an extensive buffet or à la carte menu and enjoy spectacular panoramic views of the proving ground. on the top floor is a vehicle exhibition which provides a fascinationg insight into Porsche engineering, past and present: a 996TT cutaway, several Cup racing cars, a rare 917, the GT1 which won LeMans in `98, the 959 which won Paris-Dakar, a F1 car with Porsche engine, one of the first 911`s from 1963 and some others.
we immediately got some soft drinks, but guess what, you can also order a “Cayenne” wine ( from Argentina, red or white )
lunch itself was very good, including starter, main course and a dessert finishing with an espresso, and everything for free!!!
time for some small talk with the other participants, all in all we only were 8 ppl on the first day. at 12:50, our host, a really nice and cute lady greeted us and told us the program for one of the most exciting afternoons ever...
first, we were guided into the cinema where we saw the vids I mentioned obove.
after that, it lasted approx. an hour, we went outside to walk over to the production factory, but before we all had to switch off our mobile phones and weren´t allowed to take cameras with us.
there was a Porsche photographer who took pics when you told him, and he also took some pics from every participant. at the end of the day we all received a personalized DVD with a Porsche cover and all the pics on it from inside the production and the pics he took during the driving event, they are really well done a very professional…
unfortunately i´m not allowed to show you these pics.
to the left of the entrance is the casino for the workers and engineers, to the right the modern and airy offices of the engineers, really not comparable with the one`s at Weissach.
i can`t remenber the exact figure but i think there are ~300 workers and only 50 or 70 for the CGT. passing the door, there´s the production line itself. to the right the 955 is assembled to the left the CGT. only 10% of the Cayenne is produced in leipzig the rest of the components arrives mostly by train either from the VW factory, from Porsche suppliers or from Porsche in Zuffenhausen, e.g the engine. the production line itself is very clean, everywhere quality control and post-production adjustments, you can see the marriage of the engine and chassis…
next was the CGT production which is completely different than the 955`s, because there are no big machines, everything is made by hand so no traditional assembly line.
there are seven platforms, on the first one the naked carbon fiber shell is nearly the only thing you can see, and after all seven stations the car is ready for the final test drive. we saw the cars "0012" and "0017" in production process and one which just came in from the test lap, being checked with a laptop. the whole tour was very interesting especially for me as a technician, i asked hundreds of questions, but I think most of the other ppl were a bit bored too…
we went back to the lounge, again were offered some soft drinks, coffee or tea and then it was time for the main event:
:arrow:
THE DRIVING
there where three boxes and behind the workshop, in the boxes were two CGT`s a GT-silver one and another in Fayence-yellow. the yellow one is for the us-market and had the smaller seats installed, the silver one is for euro-market and had the wider ( +15mm) seats.
in addition there were two
GT2`s, a
TT X50, two new
GT3`s, a
C4S, a
Cayenne TT and five
Cayenne S for off-roading, so quite an expensive parking lot ( ~
2.3 million € 
)
next we were introduced to the proffesional drivers ( Timo Bernhard and Roland Kussmaul )
who were piloting the CGT`s and to the instructors. everyone got a helmet and we were ready to roll… first, I grabed the TT X50, because this is the car I know best of all of them, drove a few laps, very interesting with that Corkscrew Corner combination but i`m too familiar with the TT that it was a real surprise/experience. as i´ve heared before you hardly recognise the X50 package the engine is a bit more spontaneous but you can`t really feel a big difference, the TT is a perfect car just like it is. the C4S was also nice, but nothing compared to the GT2, no TC, no PSM just a true racing machine, and with it`s RWD real fun. i think all in all i´ve driven nearly 15 or 20 laps with it, it`s been just such a pleasure… but the one which impressed me mainly, except the CGT, was the Cayenne TT
. i asked an instruktor to drive me around as fast as he can, and damm, that thing
IS fast, what a marvellous V8, simply unbelievable for a 5200 pound car. my instructor really pushed hard, every corner with a nice AWD drift, and you really have to push hard, because it seems like the 955 has endless traction.
after some laps it was my turn, and it was so good, i even missed that the others were gone for offroading and that it started to rain quite heavy. so i drove back into the pits and asked Timo Bernhard if we can hit the road with the CGT, but he told me that it`s too dangerous in the wet for us “unskilled” drivers now. he said that it`s no problem if i want to be on the passenger seat, but I came to drive the CGT and I wouldn`t have left before this.
…of course I took the opportunity to take a ride on the passenger seat with a pro driver in the CGT in the wet, and even on wet pavement the grip level was fascinating, but Timo said afterwards “tomorrow we`ll find out” …just smiling…
so, business as usual with Porsche, everything is possible and the lady at the reception told me that she`ll book a room in a hotel in leipzig for me and all the other ppl who haven`t had the chance for the ride. and indeed, after dinner in the “Porsche restaurant” we ( four ppl ) were transferred to a very nice hotel ( ***** ) at the outskirts of leipzig.
we spent a very nice evening at the hotel bar and I found some new friends, because all of them were really nice, decent and relaxed, just great ppl…
after a call with my wife I went to bed…but can`t sleep the whole fucking night…
next day, the weather seems to be ok and at 9am two Cayennes picked us up from the hotel and drove us to the track. after a cup of coffee we entered the boxes by the time Timo and Roland had just finished to warm up the engines.
but again we had to wait, because the ambulance which is always present when such events are taking place was stuck in a traffic jam
but after 20min or so they arrived too and the show began: :arrow:
for starting the engine just turn the key, which is Porsche typical on the left of the wheel, so no trendy “Start” button. the engine revs up to about 2000+rpm and then falls back to idle speed, just like a true racing engine…
a sound that makes the hairs on the back of your neck tingle, and from that time on i slightly realized what i´m about to experience… 8)
entering the CGT is not a real problem and surprise, surprise even a person like me who`s nearly 1.90m tall has no problems, even when the roof panels are on, there´re still 5cm left.
the steering wheel is in perfect position but also adjustable, the seats are like a second skin, simply perfect with some nice features to adjust. the whole interiour looks very sporty, clean but also innovative with carbon fibre and magnesium elements in combination with that brown leather, very nice.
the driver´s seat is seperated from the passenger´s one with an elegant central spar which holds the 917-style gearlever, and some controls for air con, window lift, centralised door locking, TC, and a “must try” when you see it for the first time, a switch for the rear wing.
at the top there`s the display for the “Porsche Online Pro” system, e.g. BOSE sound system, navi...
to reduce weight, aircon, audio and navigation systems are all available as no-cost options.
the car without these things has 50kg less weight, because there`s also a smaller battery installed.
so chief designer Harm Lagaay did a real good job on the one hand with the interiour, no cramped cabin everything is there, where you expect it to be, but also from the outside the whole car looks amazing. just like the Enzo, no ugly aerodynamics with huge wings or something like that, it just looks lovely and immediately like a Porsche.
but back to the main experience, the driving:
the CGT has an extremely short clutch pedal travel, and it requires a very sensitive but also powerful foot. one participant brought a device to measure the force that is needed to depress the clutch pedal, an engineer claimed that it`ll need 17kg of force to depress it, after measuring we knew that you´ll have to apply it with 22kg. just to compare, in a F40 34kg are needed.
next apply the lever to he left of the wheel right under the one for the indicators and full beam, the one for the info system which has the display under the rev meter. check tyre pressure and the most improtant thing, switch to “track mode”
nothing is as embarrassing as to stall the engine during the driveaway…
ops:
so this how to properly launch a CGT: put in first, rev to about 3-, or 4000rpm and step off the clutch pedal with a bit more grinding than on everydays cars, you truely feel it when the PCCC clutches in, it`s a bit tricky because of the standing pedals in combination with the higher pedal forces but with a bit of practice it`s not a real problem.
and what`s then going on is truly insane:
in first 44, in second nearly 90, in third nearly 120….not km/h, but mph!!! and the best, shifting @ 8200+rpm, i`ve nothing experienced something like this before. an exhaust sound like a Formula 1 car ( but Euro 4 exhaust standard ), the engine response is unbelievable, it`s compareable with a racing bike with 200hp. accelerating away from zero isn`t only cool, it`s a fucking experience. put in first, rev @ 4000 and after dropping the clutch there´s hardly any wheelspin, the car seems to have endless traction, the first two gears are gone in seconds, shifting @ 8000+ is giving you goose bumps because of the unelievable howling of the marvellous V10, you can hear the screaming of the gear-driven cams…unbelieveable!!! i´ve never heared such a sound before in a street car, it´s simply unique.
there are some cars acc. faster from 0 to 60, but everything after 60 to 150+ is beyond anything i´ve experienced in my life, and i´ve driven, or been on the passenger seat of nearly every Porsche, or any other decent sports cars.
accelerating up to third, fourth….unbelieveable, 0 to 124 in under 10 second seems to be possible with some more training with the tricky ceramic clutch, still accelerating, up to speeds of 155+mph. on long straights at speeds of nearly 200mph the car`s stability is superior you hardly notice the speed. 0 to 186mph in something around 20 to 25 seconds. this is GTR750 level (0-186:21,7sec!!!) who`s the one to beat in that discipline, although Edonis claims their supercar just needs 12sec from 0-186 (0-60: 2.9sec, 0-124: 5.7sec) just to compare a McLaren F1 needs 23.4sec, a SL55 32.5sec and a Lambo Murc 34.2 sec from 0-186mph
braking…just fabulous again, those enormous ceramics are braking like a real race car, and the CGT truly is one. and again the sound when shifting down…so sexy!!! and for those who still have doubts, the first corner is on the way…
I thought that a GT2 is the one to beat on the track , but in comparison with the CGT…there is no comparsion. on every lap you try harder to push the car to its limit, but you are the one who is at the limit first… those lateral g-forces aren`t to believed but the whole structure is extremely rigid, no roll because of the low center of gravity, the engine lies entirely ahead of the rear wheels and it`s really record-breakingly low to the ground, the steering is totally linear, sharp, fast and the feedback is just amazing, in combination with the long wheelbase, handling is predictable controllable and agile …
accelerating out of a corner in second or third again is an experience with the V10`s terrific torque range the CGT just pulls away like nothing else in any gear. the Michelins, which were developed exclusively for Porsche, are really fighting against the V10, but fail. burn baby, burn… btw, this is the first production use of a tire with two separate rubber compounds, a softer outer optimized for handling, and a more durable inner designed for wear.
high speed cornering is no problem with the CGT, the handling is extremely good even at higher speeds, due to it`s very good aerodynamic drag at a Cd value of 0.39.
you`re thinking you are very brave when entering a mid corner in third, but the CGT just peels into it, not a real effort for the pushrods, you immediately try harder, depress the accelerator to top end, and it`s like...wow….although the springs compress a little, you`ve to countersteer as fast as you can, in the meantime TC took away just enough power to keep things together and again the engine revs up to about 8200 in a fucking nanosecond, shifting up into fourth and hell yeah, sometimes driving a car is really better than to have sex...
but when a real pro like Roland or Timo is behind the wheel for an demonstration lap in the DRY and he switches TC off, goes sideways with all four wheels and countersteers drifts you`ve never experienced before in such a beautiful car, even one-handed, to demonstrate the handling abilities of the CGT, then you really notice that first: you can`t drive, although you thought so, and second: you are just amazed of the potential of the car…insane...in the wet but for sure in the dry!
accelerating out of a hairpin is a real pleasure, shifting through the gears, hardly any traction loss because of the perfect performance of the TC, just pulling away like going ballistic, and again that sound especially in first, when there´s some wheelspin and pushing hard up to the limiter, you`re thinking the control light of TC´ll burn in any second….this is something you can`t describe, you just have to feel it…no video can describe this, which is a pitty, because i´ve watched them immediately afterwards on my laptop, but there´s no way to feel the speed, the g-forces and of course the sound.
but the CGT can also be a very smooth ride, although the suspension is better than on any other supercar, i remind you of the suspension problems of the Enzo round the nordschleife, it`s not bumpy or uncomfortable. to be honest i haven`t expected that.
the pushrods with double wishbone suspension allows more leverage over the damper strokes which reduces the effects of friction it rides firmly but with great finesse, smoothing away all the sharpness and judder, simply perfect one the one hand on the track but also on the other hand on the road.
when driving at normal speeds there`s quite some wind noise, but not much, just like in my Z4. with the panels on the roof, there`s hardly any wind noise due to the sound deading material of the panels, and even at higher speeds ( 120mph+ ) wind noise is always way overruled by the beautiful engine sound.
you can drive the CGT in sixth at 35mph so IMO also very suitable for everydays life even in cities, although i`ve to admitt that parking`d be a problem, also the clutch isn`t very suitable for city driving, but maybe after some more practicing this won`t be a problem any more…
in total i´ve driven 22 laps myself, another 6 with Roland behind the wheel and on Tuesday again 6 in the wet with Timo.
btw average fuel consumption: 25,8ltrs, IMO not that much…
to compare, Cayenne TT: 41,2ltrs!!!
while waiting for the CGT i again tried a Cayenne, this time a “S”, also very nice although there´s a huge difference between 450 and 340hp, but the sound of the “S” is better because as you might know, turbochargers aren`t the best friends of a exhaust sound engineer
at midday we again had lunch in the restaurant and then we went downstairs to the lounge to have a cup of coffee and I had some interesting talks with the drivers, technicians.
again, very exclusive material: there has been a comparison on the nordschleife, this is now confirmed and it´s also confirmed that the CGT was ~20 sec. faster than the Enzo under semi-dry conditions, so the Pirelli/Michelin tyre is another topic in that connection.
one technician uses a CGT as a daily driver to test the quality, he already drove 20k+ km with it without any problems.
I had a very interesting talk with one of the chief techs who were there to explain all the tech-details to those who don`t know much about it, and he told me that there`ve been a head to head comparsion on the Leipzig test track. the CEO of Infineon bought the 349th Enzo, the one of Michael Schumacher and one day in summer he came along with it to the test track, because he wanted to know what`s the better car. after some Porsche engineers from the CGT production had studied the Enzo from the technical view they immediately criticised the bad working up. the gap dimensions of the doors, and chassis parts were way above the standard measures, the bonnet seems to have 50kg, the whole wiring is a bit of a chaos, hardly any cable conduits where they should be, especially at the gullwing doors and engine compartment, he showed us detailed photos as a proof and when i compared them i really have to say, that there`s quite a high quality difference in the details between the two cars.
and after a test drive the guy from Infineon was really surprised that the CGT handles so good compared to his Enzo. he allowed a driving dynamics engineer to test drive it and after a few laps the engineer came back into the pits and said something like this: “just gimme the CGT”
he couldn`t tell me some lap times, but said that the CGT was faster, especially on the slower layout with lot`s of corners.
after a very nice and cordial good-bye i was transfered to the airport
so i hope you enjoyed my little report, and i´m looking forward to tell you some good news in some weeks time when I´ll know exactely, because I took some time to talk about business too there…
:arrow: here`s how it`ll work out with the pics and vids:
plz keep in mind that this event was very exclusive and even more specail for me, so the most important thing is that the ppl who save the pics/vids
DO NOT post them anywhere else on the web. this should be a special for the JW ppl only!!!
i´m not supposed to show you my material and I think I can expect that from you guys!
so again, there`s a own thread for my media, only for the “decent” JW ppl, for those who are members of the DL section/reviewers club. I think those ppl who are in there´ll respect my guidelines and won`t break `em. on every pic/vid `ll be a copyright notice as well and a “JW exclusive” sign!
sorry for all that, but these pics/vids are too important for me, so I decided to put it like this.
I took nearly 200pics and over 25min of vids, you´ll just see parts of all this, I hope you understand, on most of the pics there are participants or myself shown too, and i´m not going to publish this material!
i´m sorry for the quality of the vids, sepecially the sound, it`s far away from the real one...
so i think/hope we all can live quite well with these restrictions.
if there are any questions left, don`t hesitate to ask!!!
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