Yesterday, I at long last went to collect the GT3. Having registered interest even before a manual 991 GT3 even existed and having received confirmation of the possibility of getting a PTS example about 10 months ago, this day was a long time coming.
The day itself was an extremely long one, flying from Singapore to Zürich to Milan, driving from Milan back to Switzerland my total travel time to get to the car was about 20 hours, needless to say we arrived in a bit of a delirium. It would be the first time I actually saw my specification IRL. I'd never seen Olivgrün IRL, but the moment the sheet was pulled from the car it confirmed I'd made the right call. I'm aware it's a complete hate it or love it spec, luckily I'm on the love side. The color is very light sensitive, ranging from a kaki/army green in the dark to a bright green in the sunshine.
On top of the endless trip to get to the car, I still had a 650km drive ahead of me to take the car from Switzerland to Brussels. Yet however tired you might be, the prospect of finally driving your new and absolute dream car is enough to keep you awake and suitably excited.
The drive through Switzerland is tedious as per usual and served perfectly to get me acquainted with the 991 interior. Coming from a hardcore 997 this interior is a revelation, nice materials (the car has the extended leather option), and I really enjoyed the combination of a sporty 911 with modern-day comforts as Apple Car Play, LED-headlights. On the negative side I feel the fixed buckets lack support in the lower back, especially compared to the excellent fixed "Carrera GT-buckets" in my RS. A pleasant surprise for me was that even at a motorway cruise, the car clearly felt special and and far removed from a 'regular' Carrera. The engine dominating proceedings, whilst still feeling much more refined than the old Mezger. The manual shifter is perfectly located and suitably precise, but the shift and clutch action is a bit too light coming from a 997 RS. The steering feel surprised me, it communicates really well, it lacks the "grainy" communication from the 997, but all relevant info is still nicely fed through the (gorgeous) steering wheel.
Once past Switzerland, unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse. It started pissing down, and never stopped. At 3-4°C I was aware the Cups would struggle in the wet, but I wasn't prepared for them to cope this bad. I had absolutely zero grip. Driving through the Massif des Vosges I had a lot of twisties ahead, and I lost front end grip on turn-in and rear grip on the way out in every single corner I came across. Perfect to keep you awake, but a bit much in the dark with your new car and sleep deprived. 
After a while I scrolled to the car's menu and it appeared my tires were inflated at 4.0 bar instead of the recommended 2.0, explaining the total lack of grip. I decided to take it easy until I got to the autoroute and continued at a steady cruise in the heavy rain. 130km/h seems an absolute maximum in these conditions for the Cup 2, above that it starts floating, better take it down a notch and enjoy some music along the road. The LED's offering reassuringly bright light during the night.
I arrived in Brussels, exhausted, but extremely happy with the car. I can't wait to properly stretch its legs and start the adventures.
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1992 Mercedes-Benz W124 500E / 2008 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (sold) / 2011 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Performance / 2014 BMW-Alpina D3 biturbo Touring / 2018 Porsche 911 GT3 Clubsport
