The world was shocked by a tragic accident that killed Hollywood actor Paul Walker with his friend and financial adviser/racer Roger Rodas in Sta. Clarita, California, USA on Sunday, December 9 (Philippine time).
Walker became a famous symbol of street car racing in the world since he started appearing in ‘The Fast and The Furious’ movies together with action stars Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez in 2001.
Initial reports say it is possible that there’s another car involved in the accident but eventually, police ruled out the ‘drag racing’ angle in the incident.
It is definitely a one-car crash when Walker and Rodas were riding a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, most experts say a “brutal car”and hard to handle even by experienced car racers in the world.
The design of the Porsche Carrera GT is now under a thorough investigation of the authorities in the US, which has a V10 engine. It has three times the horsepower of an average car which can hit 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and with a top speed higher than 200 mph.
The 2-seater super car costs about $450, 000 and considered as ‘one of the fastest cars in the market and was originally planned to be produced at 1, 500 units but after two years, Porsche discontinued the model production due to changing of air bag regulations in the United States. About 1, 270 units had been manufactured eventually about 604 units sold.
Since its debut 18 years back, the Porsche Carrera GT receives a number of negative reviews from automobile and racing experts.
In an article of CNN, ‘Porsche Carrera GT: 5 Reasons the car Paul Walker died in is Different’, it posted a couple of negative comments from the motor world about the porsche super car.
Eddie Alterman, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver magazine says, “this was not a car for novices. Actually, the Carrera GT program began as a racing program.”
Todd Trimble, an exotic car mechanic in Las Vegas, said the Carrera GT is a “very hard car to drive.”
“It’s (a) pure racer’s car. You really need to know what you’re doing when you drive them. And a lot of people are learning the hard way,” Trimble added.
The CNN article says the Porsche Carrera GT, (1) flies on the road with a top speed of 208 mph, a very high-revving V10 engine and more than 600 horsepower; (2) incredibly expensive which a brand new one costs $450,000; (3) has an engine in the middle which means it’s more agile and turns more quickly than a car with the engine in the front or in the rear; (4) has no stability control which means it’s unforgiving with mistakes; and (5) there are only 1, 300 of them in the world now they are disappearing fast which according to Trimble, “most of the time, when they do get wrecked, there’s not much left of them.”
The TMZ reports that Paul Walker’s mechanical issues of the Porsche Carrera GT was not the first time, in fact, “the car company was sued over a deadly 2005 crash involving the same vehicle … and it paid dearly in a massive settlement.” 
“The family of the passenger sued practically everyone involved in the accident for gross negligence — and won $4.5 million in a giant settlement … $350,000 of which was paid by Porsche,” the TMZ report added.
Craig McClellan, the attorney of the victims says, based on “sworn testimony from several Porsche experts confirmed a major design flaw with the GT is it doesn’t have a Porsche Stability Management system (PSMS).”
It is reported that the PSMS uses a computer to correct the car if the rear end loses control and it is now required by the US law.
When asked for comment, the Porsche the company denied liability, saying “the car fully met federal safety standards at the time but it still paid its portion of the settlement to avoid further litigation.”It is unclear in the report if Roda’s Carrera GT had been fitted with a PSMS but McClellan says ZERO 2005 Carrera GTs (like Roger’s) came off the assembly line with the system.Well, i just presented how the media in the US and the motoring/car racing experts say about the “killer” Porsche Carrera GT.In the Philippines, there are few owners of the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT and maybe after the tragic accident involving Walker and his friend, these Pinoy super car owners could be thinking of disposing their units or just keep them and sometimes drive them CAREFULLY and SAFELY.
