00:00Porsche and Corvette have been fierce rivals on road and track for literally decades now.
00:05And today we've got two new versions, the hybrids, the Corvette E-Rate and the 911 GTS-T hybrid.
00:12So I guess we want to know which one's best and have they fundamentally changed what they are with this new technology?
00:21I really hope not.
00:30I know the photographers like the roof off but it's like a million degrees so I'm going to press all this thing back on.
00:48It's true that Porsche and Corvette have always come at being the definitive sports car from very different angles.
00:55Porsche's are small and sophisticated and sort of efficient in the way they go about it.
01:01Whereas traditionally Corvette has been more about displacement of course,
01:05sort of industrial engineering and a good helping of brute force.
01:11But over time and with this new mid-engine platform it's only natural that they started to converge in
01:18on the best way to create a really really good sports car and now they've come even closer because both
01:27have had to embrace hybridization and the key is they've embraced it for performance not for efficiency.
01:33However some things are still within our traditional frames of reference.
01:38This thing the E-Rate is $118,000 or thereabouts in its home market.
01:43We have a Carrera 4 GTS, $172,000 maybe a little bit more, $206,000 as tested so the price gap remains huge.
01:57The performance gap is much tighter and follows the pattern you might expect.
02:01The E-Rate has a considerable power advantage but a bigger footprint and more mass to accelerate,
02:06brake and turn.
02:07The E-Rate shares the wide track, wide body configuration with the track focus Z06 but instead
02:13of the wild flat plane crank V8 utilizes the base model Stingray's 6.2 litre small block and then
02:20supplements it with an electrically powered front axle.
02:23The combined output is 655 horsepower and 595 foot-pounds of torque.
02:28Good enough for 0-60 in a claim 2.5 seconds and 183 miles an hour despite weighing 1765 kilos.
02:37The Porsche Carrera GTS4 takes a different approach. The four-wheel drive system is mechanical,
02:42featuring a multi-plate clutch to engage the front axle dynamically when required. The T-Hybrid system is
02:48shared with the standard GTS so the 3.6 litre flat six with electric turbocharger, electric motor in the
02:54PDK box and small battery are unchanged. Total power is rated at 478 brake horsepower and 420 foot-pounds
03:04of torque. Good for 0-60 in 3 seconds dead and 194 miles an hour. The Porsche weighs 1645 kilos and the GTS
03:12spec also means 10 mil lower PASM sports suspension and rear steering. Philosophically different then
03:19but homing in on a similar result. But which one is best?
03:22The torquey, slightly more relaxed nature of the car in general should suit the hybridisation so in
03:36one way that's absolutely in keeping with what the Corvette's all about but because it's got
03:44electrically powered front axle, the first four-wheel drive Corvette, you can actually have it front-wheel
03:48drive in stealth mode for a little bit, then that does fundamentally change what this car's about.
03:55I guess a lot of people when they think Corvette probably think a lot of grip, not a great deal of
04:03handling finesse and a sort of simple super oversteery old-fashioned driving experience.
04:12In fact, the car just generally has a level of sophistication when you get in it. The interior
04:20is, I would say, an acquired taste and there's quite a lot going on. The driving position's a little bit
04:25higher than you might think but I love how far forward it feels like you're right over the front
04:30axle. There's a great view out and there's a ride quality. It's got magnetic dampers and in
04:36the lowest motor mode, it rides absolutely beautiful, there's actual clarity to the steering
04:43and so the whole thing feels very stable, very sophisticated but as you go quicker
04:50they've really cleverly balanced this front axle because I think in certain cars when you have these
05:01electric power front axles, they feel a little bit artificial. They do things that you don't expect
05:08and it takes you out of the driving experience. Suddenly you're a little bit separate from what's
05:16happening but this car doesn't do that. It just gives you really nice traction, a really nice balance
05:23and you feel like you're getting assistance. You know, you're being helped but you're not being robbed
05:30of feel or feedback or interaction. The engine is fantastic. I should say the powertrain is fantastic
05:39because the old V8 doesn't rev high, 6600 rev limit but it's got that lovely noise and throttle response.
05:48But it's also got a new trick so this car doesn't want to disguise it's a hybrid. It sort of celebrates
05:57it. It's really clever that dynamically it utilizes that front axle well without it being overwhelming
06:05or dominating the experience but when you punch it you've got this strange noise which is like a mixture
06:14of like an old-fashioned pipe organ and a sci-fi plasma gun. It's really weird but I quite like the way
06:26Corvette have integrated this hybrid system. I'm sort of celebrating the old and the new at the same time
06:36which is pretty cool actually.
06:38So the E-Ray makes a strong first impression. There's so much more instant torque than the Z06
06:46but greater control than the Stingray. The soundscape is contrived but quite fun and with so many modes
06:51to choose from there's the promise that the E-Ray can grow in stature as your confidence and commitment
06:57increases. The GTS4 has a worthy rival.
07:02Porsches really are such a pain because the Corvette makes such a good impression
07:11but as soon as you jump in this car some of the fundamentals feel so good and so natural in the
07:18that as I mentioned in the Corvette you're a little bit high where you get in this you're sat way down
07:26on the ground the view's fantastic the steering wheel's got loads of adjustment in it and you
07:33you feel immediately at home and that's what Porsches have always done.
07:38The GTS is really interesting because they've gone a completely different way with their hybridization
07:45they don't really want you to know this is a hybrid in any way shape or form. In fact this new 3.6 litre
07:53single turbo electrical turbocharger
07:58is a much nicer engine than the three litre twin turbo that we've had to get used to recently since
08:05Porsche went turbocharged with even the Carrera and Carrera S models. It's just got a bit more character to
08:12it somehow it sounds a bit better it revs really nicely at the top end
08:21and the way the hybrid system works to cut the lag is really really clever it doesn't feel quite
08:33normally aspirated but it's so close and then it's got that lovely reach at the top end like big turbo
08:41when Corvette's running out of puff at 6600 up yeah this thing's up over seven and a half thousand
08:50and somehow Porsche have managed to make a 3.6 litre single turbo motor feel every bit as powerful
09:01and on it as a 6.2 litre VA plus an electric motor driving the front axle with 655 total horsepower this
09:12thing is rapid that fundamental rightness in the driving position also translates into the dynamics the car the
09:22steering has more life to it the car feels narrower it feels lighter and it feels a bit more up on its toes
09:32it feels short and agile and like it wants you to tell it what to do and it's going to respond
09:40it's got it's not instability here but it's got that lovely sort of fast twitch response that you get
09:47with a slightly smaller lighter car
09:52so far it's advantage Porsche then and it's because it sticks to its long practiced core qualities that
09:58it feels so intuitive and exploitable
10:03so it's a really promising start for this car
10:08the only question marks i have is if i ramp everything up turn everything off
10:14and start extracting all of that lovely performance is it going to come with me or is it gonna
10:21give me very clear messages that i should slow down there's an awful lot of traction control modes in
10:28this car as well but i don't feel like i need to lean on them it's really good on the track
10:35i want to get past that and see how this thing starts to perform
10:39i've backed the dampers off a little bit back the steering off as much as i can but got everything else
10:44ramped up the performance is good it maintains this lovely lack of understeer brake feel is pretty good
10:56but the tires these huge tires start to really have to work to keep all this force in control
11:06lovely traction though really frees you up that front axle to use the power it's a good thing this
11:18the temptation is just to think well why would you have this when you can have
11:23the z06 which i completely understand and if you're on the track all the time yes but the z06 has
11:31this weird thing where it doesn't actually feel that quick a lot of the time because it's so top-endy
11:40and this thing has just that punch of the big va and the hybrid so it's it's pretty nice it has the
11:51weird third to fourth gap that all ca corvettes have so you've got nicely stacked first second third
11:59and then you've got fourth and it's sort of it kills everything luckily this car has that torque fill
12:07so it's not quite as much of a problem you know what this thing is good it definitely feels bigger
12:17and heavier than the porsche
12:21but it does give you a great deal of confidence
12:24the e-ray is a really good road car and it doesn't wilt under extreme provocation not at all
12:34yet neither does it quite elevate itself to a new more exciting and satisfying level which brings us
12:41back to the porsche
12:44so what if we go and unleash it fully this has got the pdcc and if i turn it up
12:52what i was looking for in the corvette which was a bit more agility response sense that i was getting
13:00hooked deeper into the driving experience that happens i didn't used to like the pdcc system the
13:08active roll have really nailed it now and this car it doesn't ride as well as the corvette and it's
13:15noisy on the freeway but when you go into the stiff mode it's worth it's worth that extra um it's not
13:28harshness it's worth putting up with a slightly stiffer ride because the control ramps up the steering
13:34seems to become more responsive there's more feel and i know people are slightly snobby about four
13:42wheel drive 911s i think they're mega i really really like them you have to unlock even further
13:51how to drive them and for me that's what the 911 is anyway it's it's a conundrum that once you
13:58understand and can make it work it's endlessly rewarding and the four wheel drive system just adds a
14:05bit to that i think it slightly dulls the steering it makes it just a little bit heavier tiny bit of
14:12corruption but i love the the way they retain that lovely rear engine digging you out the corner feel
14:21the car wants to move around but there's an added bit of uh drive from the front axle so you have to
14:27just engage your brain slightly differently but i really really enjoy it i think it's a lot of fun
14:34and it actually can feel a bit edgier than a rear wheel drive car because there's a bit more going on
14:40yeah this thing is fantastic if there's anything to criticize on this car it's this is going to sound
14:49strange because no one ever criticizes the pdk box um i wonder if there's something about the electric
14:56motor within the box that's changed it slightly because just occasionally it's not giving me
15:04the downshift just when i want it um and even a couple of the upshifts have been a bit lazy so
15:11okay that's it that's my uh that's me done with the big criticisms the cars it's good
15:19yeah when things start to really challenge you bumps in the road it narrows down there's rock faces
15:30there's trees encroaching the level of confidence and accuracy this car equips you with is just
15:40sort of next level from the corvette the corvette's a really cool thing um and enjoyable like it's an
15:50enjoyable car to hustle along and in isolation you're like okay i get it this thing this thing's
16:00right on it but it doesn't take long in fact it's immediate that the porsche takes the blinkers off
16:08and opens out a whole new world of opportunity and fun so the creep of tech emissions legislation and
16:17safety requirements keeps on attacking the sports car genre but luckily the genius engineers continue to
16:24find ways to keep their spirit alive i think it's fair to say that the 911 carrera gts4 beats the corvette
16:31e-ray for pure driving enjoyment but both value and celebrate what made these cars so iconic in the
16:38first place and in the case of the corvette bring a new dimension to the experience we will take that
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