Hey, what's that saying about not arguing with a crazy person because those watching might not know who the real crazy one is....... I believe I better stop now.

 

BTW, my warranty comments were merely to establish they build their cars to run - more than a couple days/mth.

 

ben,

That is my choice. I couldn't drive all of them in a month if I switched cars every other day. As for KA she gets run an hour or two on Sunday and an occassional very early morning (1:00 to 2:00 AM) run.

 

Perhaps the problem with the CGT (actually, the absence of ridiculous hype isn't a problem) as I see it is that the car has a very limited audience. It is a true raw sports car, with little to no compromise (vs the Enzo or SLR). Add to that that porsche has by tradition an image of sports cars more than social symbol (compared to its competitors, of course). And as we all know, there are many more wussies and poseurs than actual hardcore enthusiasts. I have to admit this lack of compromise is kinda annoying (especially coming from Porsche) ... this was the trend 15 years ago, but with the progress of technology in driving comfort (power brakes, clutch, steering, semi-active suspension), it's a shame Porsche didn't come up with a 959 bis.

It's kinda ironic that we have to turn to Lambo or Ferrari for accessible supercars, and knock on Porsche's door to have a terrific raw mid-engine supercar.

Just my humble opinion (from gathering info here and there, ben ... I didn't drive any of these puppies). It has much more to do with marketing target than actual quality of the car.

BTW, I concur, like all overhyped Benzies, the SLR's price will be 3 grands ... like the 560 AMG or something ... LOL. Ok ... maybe not that bad ... but it's gonna hurt for SLR owners.

 

Do I understand you to state the CGT is "rawer" and makes fewer concessions or compromises than the Enzo? That hasn't been my impression. Can you elaborate?

Gary

 

Yes, this is what I think. To me, the big giveaway is the transmission. The paddle shifter of the Enzo instantly makes it more accessible than the much feared CGT clutch. In addition, after reading ben's write-up of the CGT ride, I understood that the car was a 600hp go-kart (suspension-wise), which has not seemed to be an issue among Enzo owners. The way the Porsche was designed and built smells like race car that didn't make it in time to match regulations, whereas the Enzo seems to have been designed as a road car from day one.
This is what my opinion is right now ... but my experience is quite limited (especially concerning the Enzo, which I have little interest in), so I may be completely wrong.

I debated typing this or not ... I'll put my flame suit on, but I see the CGT as the good refined boy of the street legal race cars (other cars in that category would be ... *cough* S7 *cough* ... *cough* Mosler *cough*). Which is still rough and raw compared to the refined supercar like the Enzo. There's no better/worse at this level. Just matching qualities of the car to your expectations.

 

You mean like the shifter on F1 cars is a concession to the masses? I think Ferrari feels it is quicker around a track, and that's why they build it that way. Everything I've read about the Enzo tells me there are very few compromises, but I haven't driven it or the CGT so I'm just going by journalist's opinions.

Gary

 

Of course not, but you're often comparing your creation to things like the Enzo and CGT which have that constraint. They don't have the luxury to build a time bomb to compete with you as you do them.

 

Isn't the new GT3 race car going the way of paddles? BTW, I've finally succumbed. I said up until the last mountain run (or was it the one before that?) that the Stradale would be perfect if only it had a stick (and a soft top of course). However, the sweetness of those downshifts seemingly much later than usual (cause I don't have to put so much forethought into rev matching, etc) provides more fun than is lost from the manual upshifts.

 

I thought it had a sequential shifter, a big ol' stick sprouting from the floor that you just move backwards or forwards to shift, no gate, but not a paddle shifter either.

Gary

 

It is not the same stuff as they use in F1!!!! The only common ground are the paddles behind the steering wheel!!! F1 use twin clutch transmissions (zero torque loss when shifting), only Audi (is it called the SMG) has such a transmission on its TT right now. Ferrari transmissions are just robotized good ol manual trannies.

 

Just an FYI, the new GT3 racecar has clutchless upshift capabilities, but you still need to downshift/rev match using the clutch like you would in a traditional manual trans car.

 

Of course that is true, but it is still faster than the conventional 6 spd, so my point is still valid. I don't consider it a concession to an average driver, I consider it a performance enhancement. The Stradale and the Enzo are both F1 only.

Gary