Silverstone Experience: GTS + Turbo S

[Alex L]

Had a fantastic day yesterday at Silverstone Experience Centre. We had Turbo vs Turbo S back to back comparisons on the Stowe circuit and GTS vs GTS4 comparisons on the Experience Centre circuits. I also had the honour of having Richard Attwood (won Le Mans) as my instructor for the day.

Here are a few pictures I snapped before we started:

Brown interior but black steering wheel?

£6k wheels - no thanks!

Exclusive cars driven over from Germany

Turbos over on the Stowe circuit

Car park filled with Turbos and a couple other exotics

 

[Alex L]

The difference between a normal Turbo and an S was certainly plain to see for the launches (Richard always turned PSM completely off too for me which made it even faster!) and in the cone slaloms.

The S just felt like a lighter car through the corners and changed direction much quicker due to the PTV. Even the Turbo S cabriolet felt really solid on the Stowe circuit despite the lack of a roof. VERY impressive.

Chatting to Richard a little he said he also does some work for Audi these days. He drove the R8 GT the other day and was very impressed. He said it was still nowhere near as good as a Porsche 911 though []

 

[Terry]

Sounds like you had a great time Alex. What was the difference like between the GTS2 and GTS4? More understeer with the 4?

Terry

 

[Alex L]

ORIGINAL: Terry

Sounds like you had a great time Alex. What was the difference like between the GTS2 and GTS4? More understeer with the 4?

Terry

Hi Terry - the main difference was the steering feel. The 2wd variant felt a lot lighter steering. The GTS4 was awesome up the ice hill though doing a standing start.

Unsure if the 4 had more understeer though. Not much in it. The 2 was more fun on the handling circuit for sure, but you cannot ignore the capabilities of the 4 when cold/wet.

 

[jdpef356]

I'd settle for that as a Christmas present[]

 

[pwebb]

Sounds like a proper 'experience'. How did the S compare with your car Alex?

Richard is a highly engaging man and great company. I spent a most enjoyable afternoon with him with a C4S and my own C2S for comparison a couple of years ago. He was happy to keep going when everyone else had packed up for the day!

 

[Alex L]

ORIGINAL: pwebb
Sounds like a proper 'experience'. How did the S compare with your car Alex?

The S - about the same acceleration, bit heavier/slower steering (a trip to CG would sort that though), not quite the same 'feel' of the road given standard suspension components (me running upgraded Bilsteins and F1 grade rod-ends on everything). The S did feel at least 100kg lighter than mine though for direction changes (PTV) and running in Sport Plus keeps the revs up nicely so you don't have to worry about weight transference when braking (equiv to heal'n'toe). PDK just lets you concentrate on braking, accelerating and steering. After I got back into my car at the end of the day I felt my gen1 engine revs smoother/quicker too - don't know why that may be though as I don't run a single mass flywheel [&:]

ORIGINAL: pwebb
Richard is a highly engaging man and great company. I spent a most enjoyable afternoon with him with a C4S and my own C2S for comparison a couple of years ago. He was happy to keep going when everyone else had packed up for the day!

Yes we did a few extra laps of Stowe after everyone else had pitted []

 

[keithpms]

Hi Alex, was this what Porsche refer to as the "All Season Performance Driving Event"?

 

[Alex L]

ORIGINAL: keithpms

Hi Alex, was this what Porsche refer to as the "All Season Performance Driving Event"?

Indeed.

 

[keithpms]

Thanks Alex, looks to be great day out. I'm there just before Christmas (with son as guest) and so am hoping for the sort of weather that you enjoyed!

Did they manage to convince you it was time to change you current turbo? I suspect that is the reason I have received an invite.

 

[Alex L]

ORIGINAL: keithpms
Did they manage to convince you it was time to change you current turbo? I suspect that is the reason I have received an invite.

I would only swop my car for 2 other Porsches - a 997 GT2RS or 997 GT3RS4.0 (both manual, both Mezger engine) ... and even then, I think I would miss my current car.

So no Turbo S for me - despite my huge respect for it.