motor

st-anger · 10-08-2003, 02:49 PM

- “Porsche 550 Spyder” 50 years anniversary -

one of my favourite Porsches, the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder becomes 50 years old, so happy birthday old lady!!!
in oct. 1953 the first particularly racing car from Stuttgart was presented at Paris car salon to the public for the first time.
undoubtedly, Porsche has the most successful history in motor racing among all car makers. since the early 60s, we saw countless of racing cars came out of weissach and dominated endurance racing and GT racing. in racing circuits, from LeMans to Nurburgring, from Sebring to Daytona, we saw at least half of the field was filled with Porsche's machines, most of which were private enters. to the competitors, the word "Porsche" meant nightmare while the numbers 911, 917, 935, 956 and 962 were ... well, just like counting the number of victories. All these success started with the 550 Spyder.
before this, Ferdinand Porsche created several awesome racing cars, including Mercedes SSK and Auto Union's V16 mid-engined Grand Prix car. however, as Ferdinand was half-retired since WWII, while Ferry was concentrating on creating the company's first production car, the first racing car was not developed until the summer of 1952. although Ferry was more a “road car man”than a “acing man” unlike Enzo Ferrari, he still had the ambition to dominate the motorsport world like his father.
however, Porsche was still a small company then. although some money was earned by engineering consultant service to subsidise the programme, they still had to use the existing suspension parts and wheels from the 356, incorporated in a ladder chassis which was also modified from the 356. engine, again from 356, was tuned to 78 hp from 1500 cc. nevertheless, 550 Spyder was still unmistakably a racing car because of its aluminium body and the mid-engined layout, a first for Porsche.
Porsche engineer Wilhelm Hild constructed the first 550 in 1953. he designed the 550 just like the “Glöckler Porsche”, which also had a flat frame welded of pipes, the 550´s successor the 550A presented in 1956 received a new space frame chassis which was not only lighter, but added 3 times torsional rigidity over the ladder chassis. engine was boosted to 135 hp and the 550A handled a lot better than its predecessors.
Porsche built eight racing prototypes before selling the car to the public in 1954. the first generation “public” 550, called 1500RS, featured a new engine - a 1500 c.c. boxer four with 4 camshafts and twin-spark plugs per cylinder. this was very advanced by contemporary standards. with 125 hp and a still-outstanding 1320 pounds weight, no wonder it continued to dominate class racing. please note that the “public” 550 was still primarily designed for racing although it was finished in road-legal trim. driving it too hard in public highway may lead to tragedy, one of the examples was James Dean - in 1955 he crashed his 550 Spyder on a californian highway and died.
as the 550 Spyder remained unbeatable in the 1500cc class for nearly a full decade, Porsche became a famous name in motor racing. from 1960 it terminated all development of the 550 and started to take a new challenge in F1 ...
to sum it all up, a little insider info, many ppl say that the 550 is named after its weight, 550kg, but the reason why it`s called 550 is simple: it had been Porsches 550th construction.

1zippo1 · 10-08-2003, 04:28 PM

Still like the looks of that car. Thx for the infor, but sorry, no time to read it all now.

st-anger · 10-10-2003, 01:20 PM

- CGT vs. Enzo update -

Walter Röhrl test drove a Ferrari Enzo and when a reporter of a german car mag asked him what he thinks about the Enzo in comparison to "his" Porsche CGT he said: "the Enzo really has a great engine, the handling is good, and it`s easy to drive, but the steering is too light and you have no knowledge of the position of the front wheels, especially in the wet, when the traction control cuts in too soon."
he claimed that on the Papenberg racing circuit the CGT`d be 1.3 sec. quicker under dry conditions, but in the wet a staggering 11 sec.
faster. Röhrl added: "when pushing really hard, the Enzo doesn`t handle as precise and smooth as the CGT, more expertise is required from the driver"
no infos if Ferrari invited Röhrl to test drive the Enzo which is IMO bloody unlikely, but it would be interesting to know that, because Ferrari is not that happy with the idea of comparing their supercar with the one of Porsche, so i think ther`ll never be a head to head comparsion Ferrari vs. Porsche. luckily there are car mags like "Sport Auto" which is my first adress for that comparison to take place, time will tell.....

btw....hardly any recognition for the "550", the most important Porsche of all time

1zippo1 · 10-10-2003, 01:34 PM

To be honest, I wasn't expecting the CGT to be this fast... If what you've heard turns out to be true of course. That's something we can only know for sure if car mags actually test it and professional race drivers try and set the best time on a track.

The same thing Rohl said, was mentioned in the EVO article (Enzo vs Zonda vs Koenigsegg). The suspension is very stiff and the steering isn't very communicative. I still wonder, if driven in the right hands... wich one would be the fastest.

Fastest isn't everything of course. I like the looks of the CGT way more then the Enzo.

nice info st-ranger!

st-anger · 10-10-2003, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by 1zippo1

I like the looks of the CGT way more then the Enzo.

nice info st-ranger!

yep me too....
and it`s st-anger, with an A

1zippo1 · 10-10-2003, 01:44 PM

ah sorry, that's like the metallica song ...

st-anger · 10-10-2003, 01:47 PM

exactely...

st-anger · 10-10-2003, 02:24 PM

CGT vids...

quality is kinda bad, but IMO worth the d-load
...shifting @ 8250rpm... :shock:

http://www.autovisie.nl/

scubywrxr · 10-10-2003, 03:40 PM

You really are the Porsche informer

Are you a secret agent man or something.. where do u come up with all this fantastic news.. personal emails from W R I bet

Thanks St -anger

st-anger · 10-10-2003, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by scubywrxr

You really are the Porsche informer

Are you a secret agent man or something.. where do u come up with all this fantastic news.. personal emails from W R I bet

Thanks St -anger

again, my pleasure m8
it`s all about passion, when you`re into Porsche for such a long time as i am, it`s quite easy to get some infos, there`d be so much more to tell, especially from the time during my work at weissach, but unfortunately i´m not allowed to talk about certain things.

so as i don`t have the time to search the internet for everything related on Porsche all the time, i`ve some friends all over the world

who are sharing this passion with me, and we`ve our own little "news mail" thing running...

Johns · 10-10-2003, 05:52 PM

with that 550 u could loose ur head

Chingachgook · 10-11-2003, 03:31 AM

thanks for the info st-anger!
I'm not so sure that the CGT is faster than the Enzo, because Rohrl is speaking!he's the man behind the dynamic of the CGT, it would be strange if he said that the CGT is slower!
Same thing with the GT3 and Challenge Stradale. He sais Ferrari is difficult to drive on the limit because of the sudden snap to oversteer...but what about the GT3 with the engine BEHIND rear wheels??

When a driver, not involved in factory activity will test both cars, then we'll all know the real potential of the Enzo and Carrera GT

st-anger · 10-11-2003, 11:12 AM

hi Chingachgook

don`t get me wrong, i don`t know it either who`ll be faster I can only guess as everyone…
but as I said before i`ve acsess to some information that you won`t find in mags or on tv, and from what i`ve heared from that sources, the CGT IS faster than the Enzo, regardeless what WR says or not, but Porsche has always been quite honest with their performance claims either. for the time being, I'll trust WR…
but you´ll have to define “what is fast”, better “where”….
i´ve posted my opinion on that topic here some time ago, I think the “where” is the point…

When a driver, not involved in factory activity will test both cars, then we'll all know the real potential of the Enzo and Carrera GT

...that´ll be “Horst von Sauma” from “Sport Auto”…

but again, only time will tell...

Chingachgook · 10-11-2003, 11:33 AM

Well, when Horst von Saurma will test both cars I'll be more sure that the CGT is faster. Now I doubt it because I love Ferrari...my heart is "Rosso Scuderia"....
I'm sure the CGT is a great car with a great sound, and will be very involving to drive (I don't like the paddle shift), and now that I know that you have access to infos that can't be found in mags...I have to change my mind.
And finally we have Ferrari and Porsche supercar

st-anger · 10-13-2003, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by Chingachgook

I'm not so sure that the CGT is faster than the Enzo, because Rohrl is speaking!he's the man behind the dynamic of the CGT, it would be strange if he said that the CGT is slower!

When a driver, not involved in factory activity will test both cars, then we'll all know the real potential of the Enzo and Carrera GT

i´ve done some investigations on that, how WR could know that the CGT is better or the Enzo, and here`s what i know now:

Porsche is going to lend a CGT to Ferrari for approx. a week in oct, so mr. benuzzi can find out who`s done the better job.
Ferrari already borrowed an enzo to Porsche, so that`s how WR can say "his" car is better, but i think we all know what benuzzi`s going to say about the CGT....
so not some news at all concerning CGT vs. Enzo but just to inform you...