AUTOART PORSCHE CARRERA GT

Review by Taxi

It seems a long time since AutoArt first announced that they were planning to release the Carrera GT, but finally they have arrived. The car is available in two colours, red or the attractive metallic silver shown here. The GT expands AutoArt's range of modern Porsches.

AutoArt cars are justifiably famous for producing beautifully modelled and beautifully finished cars, and looking at this new Porsche it's not hard to see why. 

The body is clean and sharp with no moulding flaws or lines. Every panel line and detail is crisply defined, and the lights, windscreens etc fit perfectly. The rear deck houses the engine cover, which appears to be a mesh pattern tampo-printed on clear plastic. It's nicely done and very effective - I almost expected it to open to reveal the engine underneath!

This is a road car, so tampo-printing is limited to a Porsche badge at the front and Carrera GT at the rear, but the print is sharp and solid. The paintwork is very good, smooth and flawless and protected by a good coat of clear lacquer.

Another AutoArt strong point is interiors, and true to form the Porsche gets the 'leather and aluminium' treatment. The dashboard, centre console, doors and seats are all nicely detailed and neatly painted.

The figures are the usual male driver and female passenger, and they are quite frankly awful. It makes you wonder why AutoArt go to such lengths to produce such a nice cabin, only to populate it with third-rate figures. 

Four screws hold the body and chassis together, two at the front and two at the rear. The rear screws also secure the rear diffuser, which is a separate piece. 

The chassis is all new, not carried over from any existing model. This time they've opted for the quick-fit guide instead of the wired guide seen on the recently released Porsche 997. I wonder why AutoArt keep switching between the two guide types instead of choosing one?

The motor is standard Mabuchi sized, mounted as a sidewinder and driving the rear axle via 12:38 nylon gears. The bearings are a tight snap-fit in the chassis although the bearings are a slightly loose fit on the axles. The front axle also runs in metal bearings. Several recent models have featured twist-on caps to further secure the bearings but they're only fitted to the front of this car. The usual AutoArt bar magnet is fitted to the underside of the car just ahead of the motor, held in place with a single screw.

The chassis is finished with very nice silver painted wheels. The design looks absolutely right and the wheels are nicely detailed, especially the wheel centres. Brake discs are visible through the wheels, painted a dark metallic colour (carbon discs?). The front discs are larger than the rears, which is a neat touch. Unfortunately all four wheels had small moulding pips on the rims which need to be removed with a knife or file. The wheels and tyres are rather narrow, but at least the tyre compound is softer than on some previous cars.

Whatever the reason, the Porsche behaved very nicely! Quick on the straights and gripping well in the corners, it's a car that can be hustled round surprisingly quickly.

With the tyres now making full contact with the track the GT proves itself to be quite an accomplished performer. Acceleration definitely feels stronger than previous AA cars, and more good news - braking is much improved too. 

The car corners with much more speed and confidence that you'd have thought looking at the skinny tyres. When it starts to run out of grip the transition into a slide is smooth and predictable, and easy to control. It really is a fun, responsive car to thrash round the track.

The only weakness is the front axle - it's rigidly mounted with no vertical travel so the car can sometimes be upset by lumps and bumps. Running the car without front tyres reduces the chance of this happening, or you could put the front tyres on the rear wheels and sand them down. If you're feeling brave you could file the front bearing mounts to move them upward slightly. Of course, if your track is nice and smooth you probably won't have any problems! 

I think the Carrera GT is probably my favourite AutoArt car so far. It looks great and performs very well indeed. The issue with the wheels is frustrating, and I really hope they come up with some new figures soon, but these are minor problems that don't really detract from a very nice, very capable car.