Porsche Carrera GT, the car that caused Paul Walker’s death, what’s so “hot” about it?

Possessing a powerful engine, cutting-edge technology and a design ahead of its time, the Carrera GT is one of the legendary supercars of the Porsche family.

When mentioning the Porsche brand, people will probably immediately think of the legendary 911. It can be said that the 911 is so famous that it has become a symbol of the brand, power, design language, success and the best of the Porsche brand. However, in the past, Porsche produced a car model that was more powerful, beautiful and contained more interesting things than the 911 that few people know about, that is the Carrera GT.

The name is ambitious

First of all, the Carrera GT is a supercar developed by Porsche for racing rather than everyday use. The name “Carrera” in Spanish means “racing” and that says it all. Those who love the Porsche brand are no strangers to the famous 911 Carrera racing car line. Meanwhile, “GT” is an abbreviation for “Grand Tour” or “Grand Turismo”, synonymous with “high-end road racing car”. 

LMP1-98 prototype used for the 1998 Le Mans race.

In fact, the Carrera GT was conceived at the Le Mans racetrack. Porsche combined the classic and graceful exterior design lines of the famous 911 with the power and durability of the engine inside the LMP1-98 road racing car to create the Carrera GT. In general, the original mission of the Porsche Carrera GT was to conquer road races, such as Le Mans.

A new and worthy engine block

The choice of engine used on the Porsche Carrera GT is also a long story. At the time of its birth, the Carrera GT was considered a breath of fresh air for Porsche fans in particular and enthusiasts in general around the world when everyone was too familiar with the name 911. Therefore, the Carrera GT not only had to be new but also very powerful, even more powerful than any Porsche model ever produced.

Initially, Porsche intended to use a supercharged inline-six engine for the Carrera GT. However, this engine was not powerful enough, so Porsche had to find an alternative solution, which was a 5.7-liter V10 engine. 

The smaller V10 engine was conceived by Porsche quite early, specifically in 1992, for use in Formula 1 racing. This project was then stopped for a while and was restored in 1999 when Porsche intended to use the V10 engine for the Le Mans racing series.

However, things were not settled when just 2 days before the first completed prototype of the Porsche Carrera GT was to be tested, the project was postponed due to some conflicts over business strategy. At that time, Porsche was forced to fight internally with its parent company Volkswagen and Audi. 

The parent company wants engineers to focus on the Cayenne, Porsche’s first SUV and ace in the hole, which promises to dominate the premium SUV market. Meanwhile, Audi is already working on the R8 sports car. So it would be a difficult problem if the Porsche Carrera GT and Audi R8 were launched at the same time. Sharing some parts, the Porsche Carrera GT and Audi R8 are clearly not competitors.

In the end, the winner was Porsche, with the Carrera GT being chosen. The 5.7-liter V10 engine was retained, and the Porsche Carrera GT appeared on the market earlier than the Audi R8. The production version of the Porsche Carrera GT was launched in January 2004. Meanwhile, the commercial version of the Audi R8 was not announced until early 2006.

The V10 engine allows the Porsche Carrera GT to accelerate from 0-97 km/h in 3.8 seconds. To reach a speed of 160 km/h from a standstill, the Porsche Carrera GT only takes a total of 6.9 seconds. The maximum speed of the new Porsche supercar is 330 km/h, an achievement that makes many competitors today wary. The engine is accompanied by a traditional 6-speed manual transmission.

Integrating many cutting-edge technologies

The Carrera GT was a car that incorporated a lot of new technology from Porche at that time. Most notably, pure carbon fiber technology was used to make the car’s body and subframe. This material helped reduce vibrations as well as the weight of the Porsche Carrera GT.

The signature rear spoiler of the Porsche Carrera GT.

The automatic rear spoiler technology is also applied on the Porsche Carrera GT. The car’s rear spoiler has the ability to self-adjust to reduce air resistance when the speed reaches 110 km/h. In addition to the Porsche Carrera GT, there are also a number of other famous supercars equipped with similar technology such as the Bugatti Veyron.

The engine radiator on the Porsche Carrera GT is five times larger than that of the 911 Turbo. This prevents the car from overheating and can operate smoothly during extreme endurance races.

The front and rear suspension of the car include drive shafts to absorb force. Next to them are shock absorbers with anti-roll bars.

Brake discs made of carbon-ceramic compound for better braking ability.

The Porsche Carrera GT is also the first supercar to use carbon-ceramic brake discs with higher durability and better heat dissipation. With the new brake disc technology, the car only needs 31 meters to stop from 97 km/h.

Not only was the Carrera GT a pioneer in technology, it was also many years ahead in design language. Porsche’s later models were heavily influenced by the Carrera GT. A clear example is the latest supercar in the Porsche family, the 918 Spyder. Although it came out decades after the Carrera GT, the Porsche 918 Spyder clearly has some of its predecessor’s features. That’s not surprising because the Porsche 918 Spyder is the successor supercar right after the Carrera GT.

Design similarities between the Porsche Carrera GT and the 918 Spyder.

Short-lived hero

In 2004, when it first appeared on the market, the Porsche Carrera GT won the “dream car” award voted by Road & Track magazine. Before that, the car was also awarded “the best new invention of 2003” by Popular Science magazine. In addition, the Porsche Carrera GT is also one of the 10 typical supercars of the decade from 2000-2010, comparable to legends such as Ferrari Enzo, Lamborghini Gallardo, Pagani Zonda and Ford GT.

The success of the Porsche Carrera GT is undeniable, with 1,270 cars sold in just over 2 years, despite the “terrible” price of 448,000 USD. The initial sales target of the Carrera GT that Porsche aimed for was 1,500 cars. Therefore, the fact that Porsche stopped producing the Carrera GT at 1,270 cars on May 6, 2006, in the context of orders still increasing, raised a big question mark. 

The main reason is believed to be the changes in regulations on airbag equipment on cars in the US market. The Porsche Carrera GT at that time was only equipped with 1-stage airbags. Meanwhile, the new regulations require cars to have 2-stage airbags. Another famous supercar that has become a victim of this regulation is the Pagani Zonda.

It would make sense if most of the Porsche Carrera GTs sold were destined for the U.S. market. However, in reality, only 604 Porsche Carrera GTs found owners in the U.S. So the real reason for the Porsche Carrera GT’s discontinuation may not have been the new airbag regulations.

Some believe that the Porsche Carrera GT was not as successful as it appeared because the actual cost of production and distribution was too high, causing Porsche to lose money if it continued to produce more. However, the real reason is only known internally by Porsche and its parent company Volkswagen. Porsche’s decision to stop producing the legendary Carrera GT has left many car enthusiasts around the world with regrets as the opportunity to own one has become increasingly difficult.

Too fast and too dangerous

Although equipped with many new technologies, the Porsche Carrera GT is too powerful and difficult to control. According to records, the Porsche Carrera GT is one of the models with a very high accident rate. According to statistics, there have been about 80-90 Porsche Carrera GTs that have been involved in accidents that have been photographed. In addition, there are 10 other cars that have been involved in accidents but have no recorded images.

Paul Walker and his red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT before the accident.

The latest accident involving a Porsche Carrera GT has caused a stir in the past few days because it took the life of famous actor Paul Walker. Although not directly driving, the actor, best known for his character Brian O’Conner in the Fast and Furious series , died when his red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT caught fire after crashing into a tree on the side of the road.

Everyone knows that the downside of speed is danger. However, not everyone can resist the allure of the Porsche Carrera GT, especially after having the chance to drive it once. Americans are clearly right to have strict regulations on car safety, especially for supercars with high speeds like the Porsche Carrera GT, because even a small mistake can cost a life.