Porsche`s 911 GT2 provides one of the most

Porsche’s 911 GT2 provides one of the most addictive, accelerative and awe inspiring
experiences you can have behind the wheel of a 911, but Oakley Design has moved the
game on with its new range of tuning products for the scariest 911.
Story: Stuart Gallagher Photography: Andy Morgan (action) and John Colley (studio)
he moment the first non-Porsche
employee extricated themselves from
the carbon fibre framed Recaro bucket
seat of a 997 GT2 I doubt he suggested
that, with 530hp and 507lb ft of VTG
produced grunt, it needed some extra shove.
For not only is the current GT2 (which is sold
out in the UK, incidentally) the most powerful
911 the company has ever produced, it as also
one of the most gut-wrenchingly exciting, scary
T
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and ferocious cars it has built, too. But like the
first water-cooled GT2, the 2001 996 variant,
the current GT2 is neither an easy beast to
tame, nor one that you can instantly get on
with and feel relaxed enough to get all 530
Stuttgart ponies out of the toy box to play with
all at once. Unless, of course, you can trace
your bloodline directly to anyone with the
surname Rohrl. First name Walter.
Areas that required concentration beyond
your regular defacto 911 driving settings
include stability under high speed, three figure
braking, and trying to get the thing to turn-in
when the entry speed is a good 20mph higher
than the motorway speed limit and the corner
has a tighter apex and exit than its more open
entry point suggested.
Call on the standard PCCB ceramiccomposite stoppers when the top of fourth
gear has just been well and truly stretched and
the degree to which the front end dives into the
asphalt can unsettle the rear as the weight lifts
off the rear axle. If it’s even slightly damp the
previously sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cups
begin to fight for purchase, too. Ironically,
when it comes to high speed corners you’ll be
craving some of that front end weight transfer
as it takes a couple of bites to get the front end
hooked up with the line you’d like. Basically,
there is a hint of old school 911 about how this
thoroughly modern 21st Century 911 behaves in
some very specific circumstances. And this is
what the new boys of Porsche tuning, Oakley
Design, has set out to address.
We first came across Oakley Design when it
presented us with its 997 GT3 back in issue
77, and its latest GT2 demonstrator features a
near identical makeover. Carbon fibre splitters
and aerodynamic aides designed in the MIRA
windtunnel replace the original factory items,
but still use the original mounting and fixing
points, and the carbon fibre wheels are now
forged for extra strength. Behind these live
eight-piston Brembo callipers with Pagid yellow
pads and 400mm carbon-ceramic discs at the
front, 380mm discs and six-piston callipers at
the rear. Mounted to all four corners are
titanium four-way adjustable spring and
damper units by Intrax and there is also a
carbon fibre anti-roll bar for the rear.
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47
oakley design GT2
Silverstone isn’t far off such a vehicle’s pace.
Approaching Stowe corner at the end of the
Hanger Straight you start to ask if this car isn’t
too quick. And this is while pounding around
the home of the British Grand Prix! The thought
only occurs because you’re sitting in a road car
that still has a full carpet set, air conditioning
and a radio and weighs 1400kg. Through Stowe
it’s just mega. As the exit of the corner tightens
you can still keep on the power to get the drive
down to Vale and there’s no push from the
front end or waggle of the tail, just an organic
and mechanical movement out to the edge of
the circuit.
The Vale complex highlights that even the
wonders of Intrax’s finest can’t dial out the
GT2’s natural tendency to understeer when
you’re trying to be smooth with the throttle but
at the same time get through a 90-degree greasy
right-hander as quickly as possible.
Into and out of Abbey sees a short-shift into
third to let the torque push you through the
long, never-ending corner, with fourth snatched
on the exit before the big braking moment into
the tighter left-right before Bridge. This slower
complex highlights not only how well Oakley
has set this car up for the big speed corners such
as Copse and Stow, but how it has retained a
level of compliance and damper control for you
to take a rude amount of kerb while still
opening the throttle for a quick run under
Bridge before diving into the entry to the
Luffield complex. Into this big braking area the
GT2 maintains its composure, with less dive
under braking and a rear end that feels nothing
but planted to the surface.
Through the Luffield complex you need a
sharp, direct and grippy front end to get through
as quickly as possible for the fastest possible exit
on to the start-finish straight, and this GT2
delivers, again. There’s no need to fight with the
helm and the encouragement this gives you to
get on the power early is one of the big
differences between this car and a standard GT2.
When the time comes to pit there’s a
disappointment that we can’t have more time in
the car (and not only because someone else is
picking up the bill!) because, believe it or not,
this 620hp 911 GT2 is the perfect place to be
when you want to move your fast driving skills
up to the next level. No, really. The level of
composure, feedback and reassurance that this
GT2 instills in you results in your confidence
building and your willingness to carry more
speed in, through, and out of corners. Where
you expect it to bite it puts an arm over your
shoulder and guides you through every step of
the way.
The 911 GT2 has, in the past, been the beast
you step into when you feel you’ve mastered the
911, but this example from Oakley feels the
perfect companion in which to learn how to
drive a 911 quickly. Really, bloody quickly ●
Oakley Design offers a full range of tuning products for the 911 GT2, including windtunnel honed aerodynamic kits, carbon fibre wheels, a titanium exhaust and 622hp engine
conversion, Intrax adjustable suspension and Brembo developed carbon fibre brakes. The results are simply stunning and build on all the GT2’s standard ability and performance
As with its GT3 upgrade package, Oakley has
also made a couple of mechanical upgrades for
the GT2, too. The first of which is the fitment of
its six-speed sequential gearshift system. When
we tried this on the GT3 we were blown away by
its simple mechanical action, the everyday
usability of it and greater control – and
confidence – it provides when you’re on track
and the last thing you want to be worrying
about is swimming around in an H-pattern full
of neutrals. Oakley has also played around with
the GT2’s heart. The pair of VTG turbochargers
have been replaced with more traditional KKK
units, the exhaust system is manufactured from
titanium, the turbocharger’s headers from
stainless steel and there is a factory boost pipe
kit, performance air filter and a new map for the
ECU. The result? 620hp produced at 6065rpm
and 593lb ft of torque developed at 4805rpm
(the standard GT2 develops 530hp at 6500rpm
and 501lb ft of torque between 2200-4500rpm).
Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit is the venue
for our test as we gatecrash one of Gold Track’s
last track days of the year, and while it’s
November the temperature is mild (in the early
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teens) and the early morning dampness around
the circuit has all but evaporated. Everything
feels immediately familiar in the GT2’s cockpit,
except, of course, the beautifully crafted
aluminium gearshift that looks strangely like a
radio mast as it towers above the radio controls.
Engage the clutch, pull the lever back for first
and, aside from the heavier twin-plate clutch
testing your thigh muscles, it’s business as usual.
A couple of sighting laps stoke the memory
banks as to how natural the sequential shift is to
operate, with it dropping easily back for every
upshift, but requiring a firmer, more dedicated
push through the neutral gate when dropping
down through the ratios. These early laps are
also useful to get to know the colossal power
unit sitting beyond the rear axle line. Drive in
the engine’s mid-range and you ride a crest of
torque that will still deliver you to highly illegal
speeds with next to no effort, but after a couple
of laps it feels only right to ask Oakley’s GT2 to
do its best.
Third, fourth and fifth gear demolish the
start-finish straight and a firm shove of the
middle pedal and a single push on the gearlever
delivers you into Copse’s apex not only at a
pace that would have your buttocks clamping
the seat’s fire retardant material in the standard
car, but with a front end that sticks to your
chosen line like no other GT2 we’ve tried. The
Pirelli P Zero Corsa rubber Oakley prefers, over
Michelin’s more track-orientated Cup tyre,
develops an immense level of grip, with the
outside front feeling like it would need a small
nuclear explosion to dislodge it.
The power can be unleashed the moment
the apex has been met and as the lock winds
off you can climb into the power band and
explode along the small straight up to the
Beckets/Maggots series of corners. Again it’s
the grip that overwhelms as you scythe through
this left-right-left-right sequence, and on the
second and third circuits the confidence is
there to carry such speed through this
complex that it is slightly bewildering if you’ve
only ever driven here before in a road car. A
GT2 is far from a lithe, slick shod, motorbikeengined track car with a number plate stuck to
its Le Mans-style bodywork, but the pace
achievable by the Oakley GT2 around
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