Does anybody have a factory 996 GT3 SuperCup car?

[Bob Gagnon]

If anyone has a factory GT3 SuperCup, or knows somebody with one, I would like to look at the updrafting center radiator installation and take a few pictures.

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

[Jad]

Bob,

I would be interested in that as well if you find it. We are cutting some holes into our bumper for better airflow and cooling. Supposedly you can gain downforce doing it right, but the standard cupcars don't have anything.

[Brad Roberts]

So.. the few pieces everyone leaves out when cutting the holes in the bumper to exit the air? The two spacers that actually ANGLE the 3rd radiator FORWARD away from the tub. The stock 986S config has the 3rd radiator leaning back and guiding the air "down" and out (see item 6 below from the 03 GT3 Cup manual) I'll see if I can locate a pic from the GT3R cars I was involved with in 99-00.






B

[Brad Roberts]

OK.. found a pic (out of 1000's I have shot since first working on them)



I'll locate a few more..


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[Brad Roberts]

Item 23 is what you see in my post above, and I can provide you with the Porsche Motorsports part number if need be It does reduce lift (it doesn't generate downforce)




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[Bob Gagnon]

Thanks Brad-

I have all the parts in the 996 SuperCup illustration you posted. The spacer that you talk about is 48 mm long and the SuperCup's lower mounting hardware moves the radiator forward as well, so the tilt is not as much as it would seem with the 48 mm spacers. I think Porsche moved the radiator forward to improve the air flow through it. The stock street GT3 installation (which is same as Boxster S) probably has to take into account crash damage, thus the installation is recessed at the expense of air flow.

The 996 SuperCup installation does not include any duct behind the radiator while, as you point out, the 996 RSR installation does. It is interesting that Porsche uses 4 different center radiator designs in the 996 series:

1. Street GT3 (and Boxster) which exhausts down through holes in bottom of bumper cap with no ducting behind radiator
2. SuperCup GT3 which exhausts up through slots in top of bumper cap (no slots below car) and uses a larger (~30%) radiator than street GT3 (same as Turbo) moved forward and tilted with no ducting behind the radiator
3. 996 GT2 and RSR which exhausts up through the bumper cap with a larger radiator and has a duct behind the radiator.
4. 996 Turbo which exhausts down through bumper cap with a larger radiator and has a duct behind the radiator.

[Brad Roberts]

I know we hold Porsche in this "awesome" light.. but after you deal with PMNA and a lot of the teams.. they start looking a lot like Microsoft "send it out there and let the buying public locate the issues, and then we will fix them". The magazines are not joking when they say "so and so took possession of the their 997GT3RSR a week before the event and completely disassembled it" They are right. We did. Porsche learns from the teams as they go. No differently than you and I showing up at the track and discovering something that works better than what they provided then communicating it back to them. They will communicate it on to 2-3 other teams and when they get a positive result from multiple people running something.. you can bet it will be included with next years car. Happens ALL the time. Let the customer do the work!

That being said.. the reason you see different versions? Different bumper configs have different amounts of downforce (GT2 Nose versus 996TT nose) They have to have an aero balance for the cars front and rear. They may have slapped the GT2 nose on the car and the rear wing and decided they still had too much lift at the nose of the car, so create the nose exit to help balance the car. Simple. Very little parts involved. Matter of fact? When you buy a new nose for a GT2 they do not come pre-cut. We have to cut them for the exit. Not sure if this is true with all the street bumpers?? I know the PMNA race bumpers all come pre-cut.



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[Bob Gagnon]

Here is perhaps the most goofy center radiator installation and ducting of all, that of a 996 GT3 RS (a car which never came to the USA).

Below is the front bumper cover of a GT3 RS, note the upper bumper cutouts and very nice grilles made of the same material that Porsche uses for the engine cover on a Carrera GT and, unlike the SuperCup grilles, are formed to come up to the painted surface of the car :



But, also note in the photo below of the back of the bumper that there are still outlets for air to exhaust under the car as in a normal GT3 (these outlets do not exist on the SuperCup). This is because the center radiator installation is no different on the GT3 RS and the radiator air still is outlet under the car. The upper bumper cover openings are mostly just for show, although some air could come around the bottom of the radiator and exit at the top.