Top 10 Facts You Need To Know About The Porsche Carrera GT

The Porsche Carrera GT belongs to the breed of supercars that use less electronics to aid the driver and offers an unfiltered driving experience. Due to this, the car required a highly skilled driver to push it to its limits, and there have been reports of owners crashing their GTs, unfortunately.

Launched back in 2004, the Carrera GT is a supercar to be precise even though the brand sold it within the sports car segment. The Carrera GT also arrived with some signature and high-end tech from Porsche that is offered as standard in almost every vehicle from the brand. Below, we’ll take a look at some quick facts about the iconic sports car.

10. The Carrera GT’s engine was meant for racing

The 5.7L naturally aspirated M80 V10 was Porsche’s weapon for F1 but the project was scrapped due to a change in rules. As a result, Porsche had no other way but to put the motor on a road car. However, due to its racing genes, it was a ballistic powerplant for its time and still stands as one of the best-sounding motors Porsche ever built. The power figures of the motor under the hood of the Carrera GT were 605 hp and 435 lb-ft.

9. The Carrera GT’s wheels have counter-rotating center locks

The Carrera GT already had sporty-looking wheels right out of the factory. To make things race-like, the wheels had a center-locking mechanism. As a unique touch, the lugs were painted red for the driver’s side wheels and blue for the passenger’s side wheels. Furthermore, the cross-threaded mechanism of the center locks meant that the lugs could be opened by turning them to the right!

8. The Carrera GT looks the part for its price

The Porsche Carrera GT is one of the finest-looking supercars of all time. Courtesy of Jason Hall and Harm Lagaay, the Carrera GT is even considered one of the best-looking Porsches even today. Right from the long wheelbase to its low stance, the GT announced performance and athleticism right from the beginning. With the big alloy wheels along with the mechanically-activated rear wing and the unique engine cover area, the Carrera GT was quite the looker, regardless of the angle it is looked from.

7. Ridiculously expensive to maintain

Sometimes, there exists darkness behind a beautiful appearance, and the Carrera GT is an example. Unlike its rivals, the Carrera GT requires hefty investments periodically, especially due to its fast-wearing clutch pack. Other than that, the car suffers from reliability issues such as oil leakage, issues with its ignition switch, and coolant pipe failures.

6. Horrific fuel efficiency!

The naturally aspirated V10 is a mighty machine and can cheer up depressed car enthusiasts within seconds. However, Porsche put very little focus on the engine’s gas mileage part. According to the EPA, the car returns an average of 8 mpg when driven in the city and 15 mpg when driven on the highways. However, the numbers stooped even lower if the car was driven enthusiastically.

5. The Carrera GT is surprisingly tuner-friendly

The Porsche Carrera GT is an engineering marvel and a complex supercar even by today’s standards. However, it also supports extensive customizations ranging from cosmetic upgrades to mechanical upgrades. There are plenty of customized GTs out there that further fortify the car’s image in the world of automobiles.

4. The Carrera GT delivers an absolute driving experience

Only the lucky individuals who have driven the Carrera GT can explain the experience the car offers. The car comes with pushrod actuated shock absorbers with inboard dampers along with an electronically assisted rack and pinion steering system. Coupled with the sporty and bolstered seats and the sizable sterling wheel, the Carrera GT is one mean driving machine.

3. The Carrera GT can fetch steep prices at auctions

Unlike regular luxury vehicles out there, the Porsche Carrera GT doesn’t lose its value over time. Almost a couple of decades after its discontinuation, the car can fetch an average of $1-$1.2 million!

2. The car doesn’t have paddle shifters

It is quite common for supercars and sports cars to have a pair of paddle shifters. However, the Carrera GT didn’t get it. According to the brand, they couldn’t find a suitable paddle shifting system that could cope with the mad V10 motor.

1. The Carrera GT is an analog supercar

Yes, the Carrera GT is one of the last analog supercars out there. The car doesn’t have any advanced stability system, no electronic aids, and no touchscreen inside the cabin to distract you. As such, it took plenty of skills to push it to its limits and unadulterated attention while even driving it as well.