PistonHeads - Gemballa Mirage GT Review

Bruce · **PistonHeads - Gemballa Mirage GT Review -** 12-20-2006, 10:26 AM

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"Most car enthusiasts would be happy with a standard Ferrari or Porsche. But in the rarefied stratosphere of the ultra wealthy, exclusivity is everything. The fact that someone else might turn up at the golf club in the same car is a turn-off, or a good reason to call on an aftermarket tuner for a healthy dose of bespoke fettling.

Uwe Gemballa has been personalising Porsche cars for 28 years, and his ultimate dream is to make a complete supercar of his own. However, as the costs involved in that have been known to swallow the GDP of a small country, Uwe is content to base his creations on the superb sports cars created in nearby Zuffenhausen.

From the outset, Gemballa’s cars have been based on the Porsche 911 platform, so when Porsche announced the Carrera GT, Uwe got very excited indeed. Using a 612bhp V10-engined, carbon-fibre, mid-engined 21st century supercar that will do 200mph out of the box as the basis for your offering is every tuners dream.

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Uwe has a huge customer bank accumulated over nearly three decades. Whether successful businessmen or princes, all his clients have one thing in common, they are dyed-in-the-wool car enthusiasts. More than that, many are so pleased with the statement of individuality a Gemballa car makes for them that they keep coming back for more.

Firm orders

When Uwe first mooted the idea of the new Mirage, reviving the name of one of his wildest late-1980s 911 Turbo-based creations, he sent a few images of this proposed Carrera GT based car to his regular clients.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, and 10 firm orders were taken within six months, with the first customer to place a deposit even willing to send his white Carrera GT from Dubai to be the development car.
We charted the progress of this car from the day it arrived at his workshop back in January to its final roll out in early October.

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With its white paint cutting a sharp contrast to the cloudless blue sky on this warm autumn day in Stuttgart, we can imagine how amazing it will look against the backdrop of Dubai.

Its new carbon-fibre front splitter, side skirts and adjustable rear wing mean the Mirage GT looks like it was born to race, and the modified roof profile with its working engine intake air scoop smoothes out the rather abrupt rear roofline of the standard Carrera GT, making a positive contribution to the car's styling.

Not just styling

Uwe is proud of the fact that all his aerodynamics parts were developed in the rolling-road wind-tunnel at Stuttgart University, and the resulting numbers relate to a simulated 155mph. This is no mere styling exercise.
The front lip is secured in one of three positions with eight screws and has a 30mm range of adjustment. In its furthest forward position, it contributes 25kg of downforce to rebalance 35 to 85kg of downforce provided by the adjustable rear wing in its most aggressive setting as recommended for the racetrack.

The roof scoop required some clever re-engineering of the engine cover, which now hinges from the rear, and of the detachable roof panels, which have been given a new quick release system. One of the few options you can order from Gemballa is the rear reversing camera neatly incorporated into an aerodynamic housing on top of the roof.

Keeping it cool

The roof intake is just one aspect of the engine breathing and cooling issue. Up front, the new bonnet panel has a big vent in its leading edge that exhausts the ram air that is drawn in through the huge under-bumper intakes and then blown over the massive radiator. This has aerodynamic as well as cooling benefits.

Keeping the engine bay well ventilated has been something of a crusade for Uwe in recent years, especially with his turbocharged cars. The same principles are applied to cooling the engine bay of the Mirage GT, and the extra rear grilles in the new rear bumper and engine cover as well as the mesh grille around the exhausts deliver significantly more cooling airflow for the engine bay.

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A new rear exhaust system reduces back-pressure and exits through four rather than the standard two pipes. The ECU is reprogrammed to make full use of the enhanced intake and exhaust flow. The result is a claimed power hike of 68bhp from the standard 612bhp to an impressive 680bhp.

Filling the arches

Gemballa even went to the trouble of making new lightweight forged alloys. Like the factory wheels these are also five-spoke centre-lock 9.5J x 19 and 12.5J x 20-inch and use the standard 265/35ZR19 and 335/30ZR20 Michelin Pilot tyres. But with 10mm more offset, they fill out the arches more convincingly, giving the car a more purposeful stance in the process.
Apart from a full leather re-trim and carbon-fibre details, Gemballa modified the dashboard and centre console to incorporate a state-of-the-art widescreen DVD driven satnav system and data centre. The latter is connected to sensors that allow you to measure acceleration, braking and cornering g as well as lap times.

On the road

On the road, the Mirage GT really turns heads. Despite the fact that people in this area are used to seeing factory Carrera GTs as well as the tuned Porsches from Gemballa, TechArt and SpeedArt, all of whom are based nearby.

As we cruise the streets, we note the civilised ride, which is no different from standard and the near normal exhaust note, which only comes alive when you gun the throttle.

Full chat on-track

The real differences become apparent when we reach the Malmsheim test track and can give the car its head in safety. On full chat down the runway, the Gemballa exhaust gives off a fruitier note, a touch more bass in the low-end and a touch more scream at the top.

The 10 per cent more power is more apparent in the upper rev band where the engine’s already lusty charge to the redline becomes stronger and even more incisive. Without reference to the standard car though, it feels so smooth and progressive you would think that it was meant to be like this. In essence, Gemballa has given the motor bigger lungs.

What is more obvious however, is the extra downforce at speed. There is not much wrong with the standard car in this respect, but in fast cornering, the Mirage feels that extra bit more planted, especially at the rear.

Unless you live near an Autobahn or a racetrack, the modest technical improvements that the Mirage showcases will be largely irrelevant, but the head-turning looks alone are worth the entry price, which by the way can add up to nearly the cost of a standard Carrera GT.

Porsche's aborted GT?

Porsche admitted some years ago that the concept for the Carrera GT came from its aborted GT racer, funding for which was diverted to the Cayenne programme.

So, in creating the Mirage GT, maybe Gemballa has given enthusiasts an even more exclusive supercar and a glimpse of what Porsche’s Le Mans sports car might have looked like.
And if you have to ask the price..."