79 replies to this topic

[SonnyViceR]

Now that the GT1 category is finally ceased to exist in both ACO and FIA sanctioned racing, I'd like to know what actually was your all time favourite car in the category?

NOTE: We're not talking about the 90's GT1 class that had McLarens, Mercs and so on, but the former GT2 category which was renamed GTS in 1999 and then GT1 in 2005, all the way to it's ultimate death in 2011 (2009 in ALMS, 2010 in Le Mans and LMS). Now they're only eglible in low-level series such as DSC.

[jee]

Marcos LM600

Edited by jee, 23 January 2012 - 19:06.

[SonnyViceR]

Marcos LM600

Nice, you managed to pick even older contester than the Viper... But it was more of a prototype than GT - which to be honest is also the case with some cars on the list - and also it wasn't there anymore when the class was renamed GTS (or GT in FIA GT)

Edited by SonnyViceR, 23 January 2012 - 19:31.

[jrg19]

Was obsessed with this car when i was young

[Alx09]

Not sure if it fits in the categories, but Panoz GTR-1 is my choice if it does. Used it a lot in video games as a kid

Edited by Alx09, 23 January 2012 - 19:43.

[Juablo]

Has to be the C5R for me. Always loved them, mainly for the soundtrack.

One of my major disappointments when i bought GTR, the Vettes sounded awful

Edited by Juablo, 23 January 2012 - 20:14.

[pingu666]

I remmber there was a morgan aero 8? gt car, but maybe that was gt2.

favourite that i experienced was the vette, fantastic noise

[SonnyViceR]

Not sure if it fits in the categories, but Panoz GTR-1 is my choice if it does. Used it a lot in video games as a kid

Well it was a GT1 car but a wrong kind of GT1 for this poll if you know what I mean (competed along Mercs and others, see my opening post) But nice one indeed, you may also like the GT2 Esperante that ran in the 2000's?

[SonnyViceR]

Has to be the C5R for me. Always loved them, mainly for the soundtrack.

One of my major disappointments when i bought GTR, the Vettes sounded awful

Dunno about GTR but in GTR2 the C5-R sounds absolutely horrible as well. They just can't seem to replicate the V8 rumbling, it's not that hard!

Luckily you can easily find superb sound mods for it (and C6.R as well)

[DrProzac]

All are great, really. But I've voted for the Saleen. I've always liked it.

[DanardiF1]

The ORECA Vipers were so cool for me, always leading the GT ranks whatever series they were doing, and sometimes mixing it with less well-prepared prototypes etc.

[BigCHrome]

Viper for sure.

[SonnyViceR]

All are great, really. But I've voted for the Saleen. I've always liked it.

I also have strange love relationship with this car - it never really performed as it should've (mostly due to the poor reliability and lack of factory development) but the looks and sounds of it just make my heart pound. And my god, the official debut for the car was Laguna Seca in 2000, and the last international race Zhuhai 2010

It's probably my 2nd favourite, after the Chevys. Then DBR9 and Viper

[TF110]

MC12 for me. The best there was. The ACO wouldn't even allow it to race in 'their GT1', they knew it was too good.

[SonnyViceR]

MC12 for me. The best there was. The ACO wouldn't even allow it to race in 'their GT1', they knew it was too good.

It didn't follow the rulebook and was more of a homologation-special than anything else, good enough reason for me

But yes, it would've beaten every other car on the poll quite easily if it was allowed to run unrestricted.

[Ali_G]

Well it was a GT1 car but a wrong kind of GT1 for this poll if you know what I mean (competed along Mercs and others, see my opening post) But nice one indeed, you may also like the GT2 Esperante that ran in the 2000's?

Sonny, just how faster were the 1990's GT1 class over the 2000 GT1 class ?

While I know the McLaren F1 won LeMans, it certainly wasn't as fast as the WSC cars. It's debateable whether the 98 cars were even GT cars given how far from reality they were.

[SonnyViceR]

Sonny, just how faster were the 1990's GT1 class over the 2000 GT1 class ?

While I know the McLaren F1 won LeMans, it certainly wasn't as fast as the WSC cars. It's debateable whether the 98 cars were even GT cars given how far from reality they were.

Well you know, just take a look at 1998 LM quali for example - GT1 pole was about 24 seconds faster than the leading GT2(/GTS) Viper's. And although the new GTS/GT1 grew with the arrival of new models such as C5-R in next the following years it didn't get that much faster. The fastest it ever got were the first years of C6.R vs DBR9 when the cars were not only making same speed on straights as the much more expensive prototype machinery but were also almost capable of scoring overall podiums at Le Mans, partly thanks to crappy LMP2 reliability. Too bad they started to slow them down eventually

Yes, "old" GT1 cars were perhaps not the fastest ever but still prototypes with GT bodywork, and production cars were only produced a minimal amount so that the racing models could be homologated. Hence one of the reasons why the class died quickly... the death of "new" GT1 was down to numerous reasons as well

Edited by SonnyViceR, 23 January 2012 - 23:08.

[TF110]

It didn't follow the rulebook and was more of a homologation-special than anything else, good enough reason for me

But yes, it would've beaten every other car on the poll quite easily if it was allowed to run unrestricted.

There was no 'homologation special' to it, IMO. They made a car to the rules of the GT1 class, the ACO said it was too large and made it uncompetitive. In FIA GT1 it was awesome.If you make a car and intend for it to go racing, make it to the rules of the class. Which is what they did. It was still based on the Enzo, but better looking and actually won championships.

[nimbus111]

Not a fan of American cars these days at all I have to say the older vipers were pure sex!!

[Rentta]

Saleen for me =)

[anbeck]

Ford GT1, then Saleen as close second. Maybe Viper as distant third, but honestly I never cared for much of the rest of the cars, especially the Aston and Nissan left me completely cold.

[wewantourdarbyback]

Always.

[Wi000]

Hmm clear top 3 for me.

Corvette and Ferrari pretty close with both having an unique sound, Ferrari wins on looks.

1. Ferrari 550
2. Corvette
3. DBR9

[Heat]

My favorite has to be the C5-R

[Henri Greuter]

Whow, the evil Pre-'99s not metioned? Porsche GT1 and the Merc's?,
Let alone the Nissan, Toyota, the first closed Audi of '99 and of course the Bentley?

If any of these were listed too: then it has to be the Bentley for me. Honorable mention: the Nissans of '97 and '98. looked great.

Of the truly built cars that also went out on the street: the MC12.


Henri

[Victor_RO]

Whow, the evil Pre-'99s not metioned? Porsche GT1 and the Merc's?,
Let alone the Nissan, Toyota, the first closed Audi of '99 and of course the Bentley?

If any of these were listed too: then it has to be the Bentley for me. Honorable mention: the Nissans of '97 and '98. looked great.

Of the truly built cars that also went out on the street: the MC12.


Henri

Those were prototype racing cars basically, the GT1 in question is what evolved from the GTS class of the early 2000s. And the Bentley, despite being put into LMGTP, was as much of an LMP car as the LMP cars of the day.

[Henri Greuter]

Those were prototype racing cars basically, the GT1 in question is what evolved from the GTS class of the early 2000s. And the Bentley, despite being put into LMGTP, was as much of an LMP car as the LMP cars of the day.

I see.
But in that case the Panoz fails to qualify as well and since that contraption got being mentioned already, the the others may at least be mentioned.
Specially the first generation 911GT1 stll shared parts of the front part of the chassis with the regular 911s of the day....

Henri

[FSLIV]

Of course I voted for the Corvettes (C6R). No other car dominated like the Vettes. But the Lister Storm always had a special place with me, would be nice if someone would post a pic.

[Rob893]

Voted for the Lambo R-SV being the complete sound whore that I am. Plus I wasnt old enough for the vipers and the listers.

[George Costanza]

GT1? The Mercedes CLK LM. What a beautiful machine.

I gotta go with the Viper.

Edited by George Costanza, 24 January 2012 - 17:41.

[theTruth]

Love all these cars; just started catching up on the the 2011 GT1 season.

Voted C5-R over C6.R, only because it was the first of the two, but all these will be missed.

[F575 GTC]

Username gives away which I like best; but quite frankly they are all fantastic! Proper Sportscars!

[DanardiF1]

GT1? The Mercedes CLK LM. What a beautiful machine.

I gotta go with the Viper.

Of those 'GT1' cars (really prototypes) my favourite was the 911 GT1, the 1998 one. Thought it looked so cool with it's sweeping curves and low stance.

[cheapracer]

Of those 'GT1' cars (really prototypes) my favourite was the 911 GT1, the 1998 one. Thought it looked so cool with it's sweeping curves and low stance.

I'll take the first series (1996) thanks ....




http://www.flickr.co...57624451034940/

Edited by cheapracer, 25 January 2012 - 14:30.

[Scotracer]

550 Maranello.

Best sounding and best looking...and in the early 2000s, was unstoppable. It ended the Viper's reign.

[SonnyViceR]

Best sounding and best looking...and in the early 2000s, was unstoppable. It ended the Viper's reign.

Sorry but the C5-R was the one that stopped the Viper domination... when the 550-GTSs came out the factory Oreca Vipers were already pulled out. Also it lost to Corvettes in 2003 ALMS (the only season with Prodrive)

Edited by SonnyViceR, 25 January 2012 - 15:43.

[Ross Stonefeld]

The 1998 Porsche was a bit of a monster, was was the 'GT1' Toyota. Probably prefer the Porsche in that matchup.

But the silver/Visteon Panoz is my emotional fave. What a nutty car and my god the noise.

[Scotracer]

Sorry but the C5-R was the one that stopped the Viper domination... when the 550-GTSs came out the factory Oreca Vipers were already pulled out. Also it lost to Corvettes in 2003 ALMS (the only season with Prodrive)

I'm talking about the FIA GT championship. That's the only one I followed back then.

[theTruth]

I've pretty much ignored the Daytona 24 hours since the advent of the DP cars. But the new Corvette bodywork adds something, at least visually. My question is, just off hand, does anyone know how the current DPs compare to the GT1s in their prime? My impression is that a GT1 car would usually outrun a Daytona Prototype, with possibly a few exceptions, but I could be wrong. If the DPs turn out to be as fast or faster, I might forgive them killing the international flavor the 24 hours once had, and actually pay attention to the series this year.

[DanardiF1]

The 1998 Porsche was a bit of a monster, was was the 'GT1' Toyota. Probably prefer the Porsche in that matchup.

But the silver/Visteon Panoz is my emotional fave. What a nutty car and my god the noise.

That V8 in the Panoz sounded like something rising out of hell!! Like Lemmy crossed with a NASCAR engine...

[Tarzaan]

Now that the GT1 category is finally ceased to exist in both ACO and FIA sanctioned racing, I'd like to know what actually was your all time favourite car in the category?

NOTE: We're not talking about the 90's GT1 class that had McLarens, Mercs and so on, but the former GT2 category which was renamed GTS in 1999 and then GT1 in 2005, all the way to it's ultimate death in 2011 (2009 in ALMS, 2010 in Le Mans and LMS). Now they're only eglible in low-level series such as DSC.

Porsche 911GT2

[Victor_RO]

I've pretty much ignored the Daytona 24 hours since the advent of the DP cars. But the new Corvette bodywork adds something, at least visually. My question is, just off hand, does anyone know how the current DPs compare to the GT1s in their prime? My impression is that a GT1 car would usually outrun a Daytona Prototype, with possibly a few exceptions, but I could be wrong. If the DPs turn out to be as fast or faster, I might forgive them killing the international flavor the 24 hours once had, and actually pay attention to the series this year.

Just had a quick look at Mid-Ohio race results for ALMS in 2008 (last year of GT1 in the ALMS) and last year's Grand-Am Mid-Ohio results, just because it's a common track.

ALMS results: http://www.americanl...OhioResults.pdf

Grand-Am: http://www.grand-am....0Official10.pdf

Fastest DP race lap last year was a 1:17.925. Fastest C6.R GT1 race lap in '08 (yes, it's a 3-year difference between the results) was a 1:18.068.

[BRG]

Good lord, I've voted for a Ferrari!

Better go and lie down for a while...

[wewantourdarbyback]

That V8 in the Panoz sounded like something rising out of hell!! Like Lemmy crossed with a NASCAR engine...

When I first heard that at Silverstone, it was like someone had split the earth in two.

[Scotracer]

I never got the hear it. Sad face.

[theTruth]

Just had a quick look at Mid-Ohio race results for ALMS in 2008 (last year of GT1 in the ALMS) and last year's Grand-Am Mid-Ohio results, just because it's a common track.

ALMS results: http://www.americanl...OhioResults.pdf

Grand-Am: http://www.grand-am....0Official10.pdf

Fastest DP race lap last year was a 1:17.925. Fastest C6.R GT1 race lap in '08 (yes, it's a 3-year difference between the results) was a 1:18.068.

Many thanks. Almost what I expected, but for some reason, the GT1s were way more impressive, at least as I saw it.

[cutchemist42]

Wait, so no more Corvettes at LeMans?

Also, those Vipers were always my fave in Gran Turismo 3!

[john_smith]

Porsche 911 GT1

Mercedes CLK GTR (even though it has a tendency to flip at high speeds)

these were the machines that got me interested in racing cars when I was 12, as opposed to just road cars.

i love how they had the DNA of the road cars, they're just the totally insane and maniac racing versions.

[Victor_RO]

Wait, so no more Corvettes at LeMans?

No more GT1 at Le Mans since 2010, but Corvette has moved to GT2/GTE from late 2009 and they're still there.;)

[Stormsky68]

MERCEDES CLK GTR

Yes I know its not up there, its not my fault the OP has limited the vote, it was a GT1 car