Donington Park: Porsches on test on the shorter track of an old-established Grand Prix circuit, rain, rain and more rain. Just the ticket for a 480 bhp supercar? Or too slippery?
Just depends which way you look at it. Sure, I’ll need to feed the power in with a bit of care, but on the other hand if the car is wanting, I will soon know!
The Donington National circuit is just under two miles long, with quite a slow bend at each end, a series of bends all down one side, and a straight cut in half by a chicane the other. I had not been there before, so when I went out first, I was also finding my way around. This is easier than on some tracks because there are a few gentle slopes so on the curvy side you can look down on the bends ahead.
Just a couple of minor complications to make the conditions a bit worse than you might expect. First, like all race tracks, there is a film of rubber left by the racers on the bends, which makes the surface more slippery than the roads. Secondly, the circuit is below the flight path of the airport next door – so the track is made even more slippery by the film of aviation spirit!
Ho, hum, and I was first out in the 911 Turbo. It was sitting in the pits looking a million dollars and all set to go very fast, with those wide rear fenders over very fat 305 section tires and extra air intakes. I slipped into the driver’s seat and found the familiar comfort of the 997 version of the 911, with the excellent three dials, black numerals on white, and the small digital speedo below the rev-counter – just how it should be. The wheel comes to hand, and the gear lever sits invitingly alongside.
Special seats
Not quite like the 911 Carrera, though. The seat squab and backrest have air-filled side cushions you can inflate or deflate to get a good fit, ready to withstand the cornering forces. Out onto the track, with a pleasant roar, and almost immediately brake into the first corner. Straight away I can feel the immediate response of this amazing turbo engine. It is amazing because it has variable intake vanes on the turbo – common on diesels – which give stacks of boost from 2,000 rpm right up to 7,000 rpm.
In fact, the engine gives
exactly the same amount of torque all the way from 2,000 to 5,000 rpm. Formidable – and I can feel it as I accelerate down the slope and up the hill on the back straight. Before I have time to think, I have crested the brow, braking firmly, and then immediately have to turn into the sharp bend at the far end of the track. This is double right-hander, so I hit the first apex, swing out and into the second, accelerating down the straight. Again, the force of the acceleration pushes me back as I hurtle down the straight, and soon brake for the chicane – the car pulls up straight and true. Turn right, then left, and blast down the finishing straight.
After a few laps, I’ve got the feel of the car, and in the second session work as bit harder, despite the fact that it is raining more heavily, and there are a couple of rivers running across the dips in the track, and some standing water on one of the bends.
Car behaved fantastically in the wet
I have to admit the 911 Turbo behaved fantastically in these awful conditions – the sort that have most races postponed till the weather improves. Thanks to this modulated four-wheel drive that feeds just the right amount of power to the front wheels to maintain stability, driving in these conditions was a breeze. Mostly, the Turbo just went where pointed, turning in promptly with an assurance that is occasionally lacking in rear-drive 911s.
Desipte the awful conditions, I could use the full power, feeling the lightning acceleration you get with 480 bhp on tap in a fairly light car. The wide tires did not really like the standing water much, and on one occasion the car moved off sideways on a bend when it hit the water, but was easily brought back under control.
Meanwhile, the ceramic brakes fitted to this car gave quick and smooth braking, the gearshift was a joy, and I could see all around me – except where the heavy rain kept obscuring the windscreen.
Handling very good - even when provoked
Later, I tested the handling on a very tight figure of eight, a tight hairpin, a slalom and in a couple of braking tests. Let’s start with the braking: accelerate to about 50 mph slam on the brakes alongside some bollards before a dummy bus (inflatable!) brake hard, turn sharp right to miss the bus, then sharp left to straighten up, all the time with your foot hard on the brake pedal.
Now, I can tell you that with an early ABS, as soon as you turned the wheel, the car would have just spun. Not the Porsche; it went exactly where steered and stopped.
The slalom was very tight, and you could not really go fast enough to unstick the car, but the hairpin and figure of eight were different. The idea was not just to go around as you wanted, but to test certain features. On the hairpin, I had to turn round, then with full lock on put my foot down - fast. If you hit the loud pedal a bit early, you got understeer, easy enough to bring back under control. Wait till the speed had dropped, and you got controllable oversteer.
On the figure of eight, which consisted of two extremely tight circles, you had to floor it again with full lock on. Not the sort of thing you do normally, but…
Well, this was amazing. With the stability control on, you got either strong understeer if you were going too fast when you put the lock on, and if you got it right, the back end stepped out, but could be brought back. With stability control off, you would expect the car to spin, but for the massive width of those rear tires digging in, and power going to the front tires to help, the care remained controllable – just! It slid quite wide before I caught it on one occasion, and I overcorrected, so the car almost stopped. Quite a performance, but it shows how oversteer can reduce the speed quickly.
After these tests in awful conditions, the Porsche 911 Turbo came out as a formidable performer; fabulous acceleration, excellent response thanks to the unique turbo, terrific traction, working together to give excellent handling. All this in a thoroughly practical car.
See more detailed information and specifications of
Porsche 911 Turbo here.
