Re: OFFICIAL: New 911 GT3 (991)
watt:
nberry:
I attending a Porsche function over a year ago and t/w a 997GT3 owner and his wife. They were discussing a trip they took from San Diego to LA and back. The wife was complaining about the harshness of the ride and said both of them had a headache ride that far in the car.
I understand that it is a performance car but if it cannot be used comfortably for daily use I may be making a mistake. I know with the 997.2TT it was fine to drive but once it went into sport mode the car became much stiffer and had a harsher ride. That is fine for short duration but to use it regularly would not be a fun car to drive on streets. I assume that the GT3 with the sport button does the same though maybe not as comfortable which I can live with. I just don't want a bouncy ride feeling every imperfection on the road.
Its way too rough for you, get a Case of tylenol pm and a cadillac
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Nberry has a point.
The GT3 is a car which MUST make sense both on the track and on the road. One of the great pleasures is to have such a sharp car that can do both.
If the car became too harsh for the road then it would not make sense anymore. For the track you can get much more focused cars, “track-day weapons”, for a fraction of the purchase price and (track) running costs of the GT3, while much faster than the GT3 on the track, with proper downforce for some vehicles and an experience closer to that of race car than what the GT3 can provide. In Europe, this alternative exists. These cars are built mainly in the UK, which I believe is the last heaven of the true sports-cars enthusiast. For example, a simple Caterham R300 superlight of only 175hp can be faster than a 997.2 GT3 on a track, not to mention that it will provide an even purer driving experience (no assistance re steering, suspension, brakes, box, etc… whatsoever) putting the driver back where he belongs. You can of course get the R400 with about 220 hp or the R500 with 265 hp. Recently an R600 was released which is even more of a killer. All these cars are below 50k sterling pounds. And these cars are without any downforce. For the step beyond with downforce, there are the Caterham SP300R, Radicals, etc…, all below 100k sterling pounds. They are all very light.
I have not been able to identify any production car from Germany or Italy (regardless of price) weighing under 1,300 kg. Think about it. Most of the UK cars mentioned above weigh less than half 1,300 kg.
If you are tempted by something even more extreme while within the 991 GT3 purchase budget, try an Ariel Atom 500 (revving over 10,000 rpm). If I recall correctly, its power to weight ratio is about 1/1! There is actually a Clarkson video showing what the Atom 500 did to poor 997.2 GT3 RS, a video all will enjoy except the most narrow-minded Porschephiles.
Many of you quote the Nordschleife times. Try and look up what Radicals did to the track and how many years ago!
However, driving to and from the track in such “track-day weapons” is not so pleasant and comfortable. Ergo the GT3 which offers an interesting, yet very expensive, compromise.
I therefore believe that comparing the GT3s of any generation to those British “track-day weapons” helps put the GT3 in perspective and better define why it is on the market.
After all, the 911 has always been, since inception, a road car sometimes with track-oriented variants. It never started as a race car contrary to what Porsche used to manufacture in the 1950’s and 60’s, but tends to forget now in order to market the 911 … or reminisce only to buoy the advertising campaign of the Cayman (exhibiting the 904), for example.
Comments welcome.