SOUND OFF! Is Porsche's Carrera GT Dangerous? Is It The TOOLS Or The CARPENTER?

SOUND OFF! Is Porsche's Carrera GT Dangerous? Is It The TOOLS Or The CARPENTER?
It was one week ago today that a red Porsche Carrera GT ended the lives of two more individuals, Paul Walker and Roger Rodas. It wasn't a storybook ending but looked like something out of a horror film. It wasn't pretty.

Immediately following the wreck there was a tremendous outpouring of love, support and shock about the event. Then, the suspicion and human need to place blame on something came about.

Some folks quickly placed the blame on Rodas and his driving skill. Others looked at the Carrera GT and said that it may have had a steering fluid leak. Some publications even put in print that the Porsche had a design flaw because it did not have stability control. And then I saw a couple of stories that blatantly stated the Porsche was dangerous.

At this point I can see where this is going. Given the politically correct nature of our society, it feels as though we'll start seeing signage and legislation banning Carrera GTs from the road.

I just have to debunk some conspiracy theories first:

- Steering fluid leak: I find this hard to believe. This isn't a Ford Pinto. When a high-end performance car or exotic changes hands for approximately a half million dollars buyers tend to get pre-purchase inspections (PPIs). I doubt this kind of issue would have been unchecked, especially given this vehicle changed hands six times last I read.

- Design flaw: The fact the Carrera GT was written about as having a design flaw is libel, in my opinion. Consumers buying this vehicle understand what this means and enter into it knowing full well it will need more of the driver's attention on the road.

I think the folks discussing the Walker/Rodas story need to get a grip. The reality is we may never know what exactly caused the accident. Perhaps we will. But let's not make this another series of conspiracy theories. That's just ridiculous.

Soon we'll start having folks talking about gunmen on grassy knolls.

Historical evidence suggests that when driver's push the GT by its limits it doesn't always act predictably. Is there a chance that this happened? More likely than anything else.

Is the vehicle dangerous because of this? No, it just demands your respect.

Simple as that.





bradbikebradbike - 12/7/2013 10:27:38 AM
0 Boost
Yeah, no.

Few facts are known, just ass-umptions so far.

Too soon, Mr. Impatient.


MattDarringerMattDarringer - 12/7/2013 11:09:41 AM
+3 Boost
You can kill yourself jackassing around on public roads in a Kia Rio. They were jackassing around in the Porsche on public roads, lost control, and got killed.


JDMUSMuscleJDMUSMuscle - 12/7/2013 12:23:31 PM
-2 Boost
"Steering fluid leak: I find this hard to believe. This isn't a Ford Pinto."

And when the Chinese owners bought their Lamborghini and Maserati, they did not expect those cars to just die down within only a few weeks of operation. And they did not even get the right treatment from the HQ, so what did they do? They hammered their cars.

Just because it is expensive, does not mean it is amazingly good in terms of reliability. In fact, the Europeans are the ones that always fail in this category miserably.

"Design flaw: The fact the Carrera GT was written about as having a design flaw is libel, in my opinion. Consumers buying this vehicle understand what this means and enter into it knowing full well it will need more of the driver's attention on the road."

Do they? When the consumers buy Porsche, they do not expect it to go all like a Dodge Viper. In fact, people do know Viper is a dangerous car, because it advertises like it is. But Porsche? It does not have that kind of image to people.

"I think the folks discussing the Walker/Rodas story need to get a grip. The reality is we may never know what exactly caused the accident. Perhaps we will. But let's not make this another series of conspiracy theories. That's just ridiculous."

And let us not blame things on the car?


Agent00RAgent00R - 12/7/2013 7:54:28 PM
+3 Boost
You can't be serious with this post.

I don't think advertising has anything to do with folks keeping their Carrera GT's on the road.


JDMUSMuscleJDMUSMuscle - 12/7/2013 8:28:56 PM
-1 Boost
And you can not be seriously so naïve.

Do you seriously think the people who buy Carrera GT actually expect it to be a "dangerous" car?

You pay half a million dollars for this car, and when you do so, you expect it to have all kinds of safety features, reliability, performance, and all the great things that a car can ever possess.

But in the end, many people get disappointed and they just desert those European junk. There was an owner who paid a million dollars for some Mercedes back in the days, and it broke down and Mercedes engineers could not fix it. And he was considering a lawsuit. No idea how it went afterwards, but Mercedes really should not sell junk.


You pay, half a million dollars, all just to get a car that performs like a Viper. Well then, I would much rather buy a Viper, which is a lot cheaper and superior. Why didn't Porsche advertise their Carrera GT as a dangerous car, when they "knew" it was? How many filthy rich females who don't know much about driving do you think have ended up purchasing this car?

I guess Porsche was afraid that their image might be tarnished?


Agent00RAgent00R - 12/8/2013 2:58:57 AM
+2 Boost
You.Are.Hopeless.


JDMUSMuscleJDMUSMuscle - 12/8/2013 10:36:56 PM
+1 Boost
No sir, I am not.

Why even bother defending a hopeless "automaker" to begin with?


tom43tom43 - 12/7/2013 12:51:07 PM
+3 Boost
Please don´t blame things on the car. Looking at the pics of the wrecked car it is pretty clear that it crashed at much higher speeds than 45mph, the speed limit in this street. The Carrera GT is a light-weight high-performance sports car with traction control. Looking at the ruber on street its also pretty clear that the traction control was de-activated. If you are a skilled driver, this is not a real problem (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajqSQ1NyQ_4 ). I assume that this was not the case...


pcar4evrpcar4evr - 12/7/2013 1:19:15 PM
0 Boost
Incorrect - there is no traction control on the Carrera GT. If you are interested in the legal aspects of this read about the Ben Keaton case.


Agent00RAgent00R - 12/7/2013 8:01:27 PM
+3 Boost
@pcar4evr

I think you're confusing traction control and stability control.

It has traction control, albeit not the best implementation.

Read Rahal's remarks on his experience with the exact same Carrera GT involved in the accident.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20131201/CARNEWS/131209996


t_bonet_bone - 12/7/2013 1:16:27 PM
+1 Boost
Having driven an early BMW Z4 (early implementation on runflat tires), I can attest that even the best manufacturers can release something that isn't ready for prime time.

I'm a PCA member and the Carrera GT is widely known in the Porsche community as dangerous in the "bad" way, not the good way. I'd decline a hot lap in one.

By the way, they made a deadly decision to exclude PSM on this vehicle. This has cost at least a dozen lives.


CcoxxCcoxx - 12/7/2013 5:48:42 PM
+1 Boost
t_bone, you are a PCA member? Your last posting comment about the Porsche Macan was "F-YOU, Porsche" and sorry, I'm a PCA member in TX and a subscriber to several general automotive and Porsche publication: the CGT is hardly known in a "bad" way.

Back to the topic at hand: Chris Harris just wrote a brilliant article on this car/accident and the immediate media hysteria in pointing all blame at the car. Reality = user/driver error. Additionally, when the CGT hit the metal/steel street light at such a force that it snapped the post in half, the car was hardly being driven 15 mph.




derbyrollderbyroll - 12/7/2013 6:48:28 PM
+2 Boost
Roger bought the car in the Spring. How is a PPI inspection regarding fluid leaks valid some 9 months later? Who writes this stuff?
Is it mechanically possible for the GT to engage in the super-size fireball that it did? and so very quickly? Can any car? This isn't the movies. A fire is one thing,a raging inferno is rather strange. Just wondering.


Agent00RAgent00R - 12/7/2013 7:49:20 PM
+2 Boost
You do realize the vehicle in question only had 3,000 miles or thereabout on it, right?

Give it a rest. This isn't a "known issue."


derbyrollderbyroll - 12/7/2013 7:38:42 PM
0 Boost
Ccoxx---have you seen the actual crash and the pole splitting in two? People keep talking about this, but I have yet to know where this info comes from? The only video I've seen is an unclear, off-in-the-distance video that doesn't even show an actual car, just smoke bellowing upwards. I see a light pole, however I see nothing in that video to indicate it snapped in half or was even struck. Basically the video sucks and shows me nothing. I do believe the Blue BMW that posted the very first video of this disaster knows a lot more about this than they will ever admit to. Heck, what is clear if anything in that video IS the blue BMW. Everyone is too busy looking at the top right hand corner and nobody is looking at the angle the blue car comes in on the other side of the road. Plus, there is another video of the car on fire posted by the BMW driver/occupants. the audio in THIS video, is downright creepy.



tom43tom43 - 12/8/2013 6:05:25 AM
+3 Boost
Please accept the "boring" reality: (a) The driver was going too fast in this corner. (b) Even Hollywood super heroes can die. This conspiracy theories with fluid leak, other cars or a "bad car" are just ridiculous. Seems to be some sort of american way to handle tragic situations...


Agent00RAgent00R - 12/8/2013 1:05:47 PM
+2 Boost
Glad someone gets it!


mini22mini22 - 12/8/2013 5:19:14 PM
+2 Boost
This is a car with over 600 HP. Walter Rohrl even stated that the Carrera GT is not a car for novices.Is it a dangerous car? In the hands of an experienced racing driver who knows the car well probably not.I don't know how good a driver Roger Rodas was. He had owned the car since May.The Porsche Carrera GT is a mid engined 600 hp race car for the road with 2005 engineering and technology.The indications seem to be that the car hit the pole going over 100 MPH even though this was a realtively short driving area. Being that the car could hit 60 in the mid 3 second range it certainly did not take it much time to get up over the century mark. I really cannot see how you could really blame the car. Some car simply require more skill than others to drive really fast.The Carrera GT is obviously one of those cars. So is this a dangerous car. I'd have to no if you know how to drive it.


610looper610looper - 12/9/2013 11:26:05 AM
+1 Boost
so even if the car was driving the 45mph speed limit, should the aftermarh look like that? usually if you or "the driver in this case" see a tree, a pole, person directly in your path, you'd try to slow down, then steer around. meaning if there's an impact, the moment will be from a lower speed than 45mph.

having said that, if this car is that dangerous at 45mph, I wonder how the test drive went before it was purchased...

I imagine the seller saying, this car is possessed, it will drive itself at will, it's dangerous, don't drive faster than 40mph.




mini22mini22 - 12/9/2013 1:42:01 PM
+1 Boost
From what I've heard and read this car was going more than double the 45 MPH speed.At 45 MPH Rodas being a race car driver should have been able to miss the pole.Here is my opinion and mine alone.The car hit the pole at 100 MPH plus and broke in half. This immediately ruptured the fuel lines and the explosion happened about 3 to 4 seconds later.Even if the explosion had not occured I believed Rodas died instantly and Walker might have intially survided the impact but would have died from internal injuries later.I do not believe this car had any flaws. I believe Rodas simply made a driver error. Even very good race car drivers can make a mistake.Any rear wheel drive 600 plus hp car driven by somone who knows what they are doing. Being a race car driver doesn't mean you can be an absolute expert in driving and handling any supercar right off the bat.When Rany Probst was testing the best handling car for Moter Trend he felt that driving the Viper scared the Bejesus out of him because it was so tricky at the limit. In fact he said he nearly lost it a few times at Laguna Seca.The Carerra GT does not appear to have a large margin of predictability at the limit. Early 911's didn't either.It was simply an unfortunate few seconds of driving. That s all.
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