[Asymmetrick]

Originally Posted by adc

Why?

When I sign up for a track event, I show up and drive whether it rains or not.

Thank you for your comment. I am happy you are raising this point since this highlights a common misconception.

The answer to your "why" question is in your own sentence: "When I sign up for a track event". In other words, you are saying that you are actively selecting what you believe are "optimized driving conditions" (in this case, ideal driving surfaces) to enjoy your sports car. I am making the exact same argument in my post above.

You have reduced the whole point of my post to "not driving in the rain" when in fact I was arguing that "reviews conducted in the winter on cold, wet, rural roads" are not the most informative for top of the line performance cars. This is important because a large fraction of CSL reviews from one specific region of the world were conducted under poor driving conditions: it provides a skewed/false perception to car enthusiasts.

Finally, it is important to understand that people who purchase the highest performance cars are typically highly-competitive enthusiasts who spend significant amounts of money to get the absolute best performance out of their track days (i.e., shaving a few tenths off their record, etc). You won't accomplish this in wet/cold conditions. If you are going to use your car in poor driving conditions, you don't need a CSL, a GT3, or a black series AMG. A lower variant of those cars equipped with PS4S will do just fine under suboptimal driving conditions and this will save you a lot of money.

Originally Posted by adc

And if you show up in the dry, rest assured, the situation will be the same.

No matter what, the GT3 is a better track car. Both are compromised street cars.

I don't recall comparing the performance of the GT3 and CSL in my post. Maybe you mixed up my post with someone else's...

Btw, I don't disagree with this point. The GT3 is a superb sports car. In fact, it has to be because it is a LOT more expensive than a CSL.

A base (zero option) 911 GT3 is 184K USD/150K GBP and a fully equipped M4 CSL is 146K USD/125K GBP (all quoted prices exclude ADMs of the US market). This is a huge price difference which raises the question whether the GT3 is the proper car to compare to the CSL.

I would argue, performance-wise, that the 911 GTS with lightweight package is a more appropriate comparator (even thought it is still substantially more expensive than the CSL with the same specs/options). The proper comparator for the CSL when considering only price (ie, with matching options: CCB, Carbon Roof, PASM, SportDesign Package, etc) in the Porsche 911 lineup is the Carrera S.

So, for the price of a comparably equipped 911 Carrera S, you get a M4 CSL; a car that outperforms the Porsche massively.

Originally Posted by adc

In my F80, the stock OEM wheels with PS4S are my rain setup, and in the back seat I have a dry weather setup with slicks. At the expense of some convenience (mounting and dismounting wheels), I have a flexible setup.

Glad to hear you have a good flexible setup. The F80 is a great car that is –in my opinion– underappreciated. I hope you enjoy your track days, even in the rain.