UPDATE: Seems like the Changi Airport Group didn’t like their first attempt at a video either. Here’s an updated video of the race that shows things from a different perspective and shows that the race was a lot closer than I originally thought.
In a bid to answer the question, “Which is faster, a Jet or a Porsche?” (not to mention gather some much needed publicity), the Changi Airport group staged a race between a 747 and a Porsche GT3 Cup Car. In what looked like a fairly lopsided race the Porsche won quite handily. While the 747 wins the race for overall top-end, it would need to be airborne to overtake the Porsche.
As hard as they tried, the video and the race just doesn’t seem that exciting. The concept was interesting, but after watching the results, in the video above, I would say the best thing about he execution was the girl they used to wave the green starting flag (and her white boots). If a video with a better perspective is found, I’ll update this post and let you know. In the mean time, here’s a much more entertaining race for you.
This is one of the better in-car racing videos I’ve seen in a long time. The camera placement and picture quality from the Dodge Viper are enough to make you feel like your on the track doing the driving. Fortunately, the Porsche GT3 keeps the lead for most of the race so you get a good feel for the line taken, turn-ins, speed in the straights, etc. The only thing missing would be some form of telemetrics so we could see speed, RPM and gear changes as both GT3s make their way through the sometimes heavy traffic.
I’ve always thought myself to have a decent vocabulary, but never felt the need to wave it around attracting attention. Besides, what I didn’t know I could fake, right? In other words, it usually requires a long and lengthy lexicon to find me reaching for my well worn Webster’s. So imagine my surprise when I read about a Porsche GT2 described as “lairy*”. That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?
I don’t think it’s any great secret that Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson is no fan of the Porsche marque (the 911 in particular). In fact, it seems he can’t resist the urge to throw jabs whenever the opportunity presents itself. He’s done everything from destroying a 911 to deriding the agility and appearance of the 997 GT2 and GT3 (let’s not forget the above mentioned “lairy” comment). Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, my only question is why?
Here’s Clarkson disrespecting the 911 GT2
As I started looking for an answer, I found the following in a Clarkson review of the Porsche GT3:
The GT3 was wrong in every way. And to compound the issue, it is, of course, a 911 – a car I’ve never liked. My relationship with this brainchild of Hitler is curious. I’ve always enjoyed driving them, apart from the 1992 RS which was horrid – and purple, if memory serves – and I’ve always admired the quality. But they’ve all failed to put their hands down my trousers and give me a squeeze. I find them as emotionless as limestone and as a result, I would never even think of buying one.
Okay, he finds them “emotionless as limestone” and maybe he’s a bit sexually frustrated. Outside of that why the continued contempt? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Clarkson fan. I just don’t understand the hate. Was he somehow snubbed by Porsche? Did his size 14, seemingly lead filled foot, get run over by a 911 on the track somewhere. If you know the reason or story behind the odium* (how’s that for a vocab word?) please let me know.
*lairy : vulgar and flashy
*odium : hatred and condemnation accompanied by loathing or contempt
[Source: 993C4S, TopGear, Websters]
Written on November 3rd, 2008 at 12:10am by 993C4S
With all the noise being made about the which car is faster around the ring, Porsche or Nissan, it’s about time someone stepped up to the plate with a solution that lets us determine the winner for ourselves. I offered up a different solution a few weeks back, but so far neither Porsche or Nissan seem to be biting.
In the interim, check out the latest shot at a solution from iMotor. Okay, so maybe it’s only a video game, and a simple one at that, but it works well and it’s fun for a couple of minutes while you pound the crap out of your keyboard trying to push your Porsche in pursuit of Godzilla around the ring.
Give it a shot and see what time you can post. Fortunately, the game moves quick and even a slow time should come in under 30 seconds. Thankfully, it’s not true to life from a timing standpoint. If it were, I can imagine a bunch of kids with bloody stumps for fingers as they bang away fighting for that sub 7:29 lap time.
In light of all the recent press regarding the Porsche vs. Nissan Rivalry, we wanted to broach an old, but still relevant subject. It seems that every time a manufacturer releases a new or updated hi-end sports car, it is compared to Porsche (heck even Hyundai is comparing itself to Porsche now.) In the past, these type of comparisons were limited to the 911 model range as per the examples below. Read more
Prior to the GT-R bursting onto the scene, Nissan and Porsche were not competitors. They serve(d) two completely different market segments. They have little to no history as competitors in motorsports and until the introduction of the Nissan GT-R to the US, they were not really thought of as a sports car company (and no, I’m not forgetting about earlier Datsun and Nissan Z cars.) Why then is there all this commotion about Porsche vs. Nissan? Are we, the online and print media, the reason for this rivalry? Or, was it Read more
Just when the fire(s) started by the Nissan GT-R vs. (insert most any Porsche model here) had started to burn themselves out, Porsche goes and throws fuel on the flame war by calling into question Nissan’s publicly announced lap times at the Nurburgring.
If you haven’t been following the story that closely, don’t feel bad, you’re not alone. Here’s a quick refresher.
Email
With all the noise being made about the which car is faster around the ring, Porsche or Nissan, it’s about time someone stepped up to the plate with a solution that lets us determine the winner for ourselves. I offered up 
Just when the fire(s) started by the Nissan GT-R vs. (insert most any Porsche model here) had started to burn themselves out, Porsche goes and throws fuel on the flame war by calling into question Nissan’s publicly announced lap times at the Nurburgring.
