It is interesting that one magazine went to the extent to make some hard measurements on vehicle configurations and associated performance that actually validates our "feel."
Car and Driver has a test of Cayman R vs. 997.2 GT3 in their July issue. The results should not be surprising, but they got some data that is quite relevant. The most important numbers to me are the ones that no one goes out to measure, compare or publish, it is refreshing to see this mag went to that extent; they employed
Cayman Dynamics, a company that specializes in vehicle dynamics with multi-million dollar equipment and engineering talent.
So, the GT3
CG height is
17.4" vs. 18" for Cayman R. The exact location of CG is not revealed though, and also keep in mind that the Cayman R sits 10 mm (0.4") lower that even Cayman S w/PASM.
GT3
Polar Moment of Inertia is
1184 ft-lb-sec(2) vs. Cayman R's
1515.
The
Static Weight Distribution, GT3:
39(f)/61(r) vs. Cayman R:
45(f)/55(r)
Dynamic Weight Distribution, under acceleration, GT3:
26(f)/74(r), CR:
33(f)/67(r)
Dynamic Weight Distribution, under braking, GT3:
58(f)/42(r), CR:
64(f)/36(r).
Forget all other test and numbers, these are enough to explain what we "feel" that the 911, particularly the GT3, is truly the better platform, long live rear-engine config
