It’s amazing what a new set of tires can do for a classic car.
The Porsche Carrera GT might not seem vintage to you or me, but time stops for no one. The fabled V-10-powered supercar is now 20 years old, qualifying it for historic license plates in some states.
Despite the last Carrera GT rolling off the assembly line in the mid-2000s, Porsche continues to provide support for owners, offering parts, performing recalls, and as recently as October of this year, installing brand-new Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires on all Carrera GTs, free of charge.
Porsche claims the new tires, designed specifically for this application, make the Carrera GT perform better than new. Specifically, the company promises shorter braking distances, more communicative handling, and best, of all, faster lap times.
German publication Sport Auto got the chance to test Porsche’s claims, using Porsche factory driver Jörg Bergmeister and a bright yellow CGT equipped with the new rubber, with trackside support from Manthey Racing.
With Bergmister at the wheel, the Carrera GT was able to set a lap time of 7 minutes, 12 seconds. That’s 16 seconds quicker than the quickest previous time set by the Carrera GT, according to Auto Bild, which had rally legend Walter Röhrl drive the car in 2004 on the original factory Pirelli P Zeros.
The Carrera GT’s new time is also quicker than a handful of modern cars, like the 991 GT3, the BMW M4 CSL, and the Lexus LFA with the Nürburgring package. Proof that modern tire technology has come a long way, with the power to give new life (and new levels of performance) to our favorite classics.