7 juin 2018 15:05:13
After having now finally completely broken in the car I wanted to share some observations I made during the last 3000km.
Engine: Brillant, good torque starting much earlier than with the old 4 liter, superb throttle response, strong topend. I did a careful break-in, first 500km not going over 5000rpm, not more than 50% load, than constantly upping rpm and load, going from 1500km to 2000 to slowly on full load and rpm and only from 3000km constant full throttle on the German Autobahn. At 1000km the engine oil and filter was changed too. Engine does not use a drop of oil and goes like stink, still freeing up as the kilometers go on. Just hit 305km/h on Saturday when driving back from Stuttgart, was still pulling. Sound is great, with this car upshifts without lifting sounds almost better than downshifting, it bangs when retarding the ignition, even when you shift from 2. to 3. in town it makes people turn their heads. Its unlike the artificial pops you get from the standard 911 or the Cayman GT4, more mechanical and menacing. Only downside, the car can get a bit boomy when driving on the highway above 140km/h, it also seems to be louder inside than my former RS.
Gearbox: It's a peach, getting better and better, clutch is light compared to the 997GT3, one gets used to it very quickly. Shift action is precise, gates well defined. You only get sweaty palms when you have to shift from 5. to 6. at 290km/h as you have to take your hand of the steering wheel. PDK is definitely much easier to drive on tight mountain roads, recently did the Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse with more than 50 hairpins and with PDK it makes you feel like god where as with the manual you have to concentrate much more. Do I regret the manual? Not one second, it fits the purpose of the Touring very well, is fun and more versatile as you can shift slower and faster at will, making the car different noises and adding another level of connection. For the race track and heavy traffic though, PDK wins hands down.
Suspension/Feel: Feeling for the front axle definitely improved vs. RS, more feedback though turn in not as sharp, was to be expected due to narrower front tires. Feels more 911, can understeer, will do an alignment with corner weighting soon, putting the rear ARB full stiff. Suppleness very good as was with the RS, absorbs bumps very well, even at high speed on the German Autobahn, makes swift progress above 200km/h easy. One big difference is the stability when braking from very high speeds above 250km/h, RS with its big wing was absolutely planted where as the Touring wanders and is much less stable. Sound deadening must have been decreased you hear every single gravel stone hitting the wheel arches.
The car has been PPF'ed at the front making me less nervous about getting too many stone chips on my Viper green paint.
In a nutshell, I love the car, it makes me getting up early on Sunday mornings to go for extended drives and when you turn it off and park it, you already lust for the next drive.
Thanks for the review, completely share your thoughts on all accounts after 8k km's now. Utterly wonderful car.
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
25 juin 2018 17:51:44
25 juin 2018 19:24:12
I feel the need to contribute to this thread for the sake of this very good car even if it is not the R8.
The manual, ...it is getting better every ride.
I have 2800kms now and gearbox feeling is changing in the good way. first oil change done and 5 track days already and the car is a step above the .1 in term of chassis, engine and overall package.
Higher torque forced me to change a bit the alignment of the car with more camber on 4 corners, a bit of toe and changing the sway bar to counterpart the understeer that was not present on .1 due to lower torque curve.
I notice the engine noise changing also (V10 plus plus like now or not but louder more than 80dB in the cabin) and specially this morning with new noises here and there on idle and while driving. I need to investigate more on the gearbox though, especially the 4th gear in which the stick is not as steady as the other gears.moving a bit, shaking...etc I need to look closer.
for the oil consumption, well, it does eat oil after the 2 track days done in the past 10 days the indicator is 1 bar above mini...it was full and just released from PZ , I know I am pushing it hard now, not afraid of fast curve with blind corners, any R8 will face challenge
overall and after 2 months ownership, it is a great package except the Porsche App what a disaster...I get connection till it dries out my Iphone battery and then connect the phone via USB to the PCM and BOOM connection lost, impossible to be back on connection. That is really the only annoying point but an important one from my point of view.
I can't understand comments about more civilized, less raw, softer...(and inferior to R8 of course ).
I thinking about doing some upgrade. let's see if my motivation pushes me enough to pull the trigger.
GT Lover, Porsche fan
991.2 GT3 manual, 991 GT3 2014(sold)
Cayenne GTS 2014
25 juin 2018 20:44:39
the-missile:
for the oil consumption, well, it does eat oil after the 2 track days done in the past 10 days the indicator is 1 bar above mini...it was full and just released from PZ , I know I am pushing it hard now, not afraid of fast curve with blind corners, any R8 will face challenge
It shouldn't be full at the maximum, but at 3/4.
2018 White 911 GT3
My car used some oil first track day (maybe 300ml) and stopped all oil useage after that. I guess it needed a track day to fully seat the rings or something...
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18 GT3 Manual, 73 Carrera RS 2.7 Carbon Fiber replica (1,890 lbs), 06 EVO9 with track mods. Former: 16 Cayman GT4, 73 911S, Two 951S's, 996 C2, 993 C2, 98 Ferrari 550, 79 635CSi
26 juin 2018 00:16:35
26 juin 2018 06:44:17
I had to refill 30cl too after approximately 2000km. No track use during these km but a spirited Autobahn drive of 600km.
After almost every engine start the car would develop a big white cloud. This has been getting rarer now though. My former 997.2 did this occasionally, but the 991.2 did it every second time. Now it’s not done it since 10 starts, maybe it’s getting better? No oil marks on the garage floor thankfully.
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2018 White 911 GT3
Gauss:I had to refill 30cl too after approximately 2000km. No track use during these km but a spirited Autobahn drive of 600km.
After almost every engine start the car would develop a big white cloud. This has been getting rarer now though. My former 997.2 did this occasionally, but the 991.2 did it every second time. Now it’s not done it since 10 starts, maybe it’s getting better? No oil marks on the garage floor thankfully.
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2018 White 911 GT3
here is my experience with oil use and the GT3RS.1: enormously high in the beginning, 2.5 -3 liters per 1000km. at some point the PC wanted to apply to stuttgart for engine change but were told that after 10K km all will normalize to < 1l/1K km. it turned out to be even better than that, the car is now at almost 0 oil use, with 15K km.
pmarkow:Gauss:I had to refill 30cl too after approximately 2000km. No track use during these km but a spirited Autobahn drive of 600km.
After almost every engine start the car would develop a big white cloud. This has been getting rarer now though. My former 997.2 did this occasionally, but the 991.2 did it every second time. Now it’s not done it since 10 starts, maybe it’s getting better? No oil marks on the garage floor thankfully.
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2018 White 911 GT3
here is my experience with oil use and the GT3RS.1: enormously high in the beginning, 2.5 -3 liters per 1000km. at some point the PC wanted to apply to stuttgart for engine change but were told that after 10K km all will normalize to < 1l/1K km. it turned out to be even better than that, the car is now at almost 0 oil use, with 15K km.
That's helpful. Thanks
2018 White 911 GT3
At the beginning I also had 2 or 3 times a puff of white smoke, from 1000km not once anymore.
What I also love is the classic boxer sound at lower revs before the exhaust valves open. Combined with the manual it recalls a bit old school Porsche.
The higher torque and better torque curve compared to the MK1 4liter engine makes it nicer around country roads, with the old engine and PDK I usually revved up to the limiter (which was variable depending on the gear used), with the new engine you don't have to use all the revs and it still feels strong.
The non-lift upshifts are really something to be experienced, they make you addicted as the engine cuts/retards the ignition, making lots of nice noises, especially when doing it between 4000 and 7000 rpm.
Mike
26 juin 2018 15:21:23
26 juin 2018 18:12:32
26 juin 2018 19:18:50
Joost:the-missile:never had a smokey start since day 1...I think I have the racecar version
You must have the car that they intended for RC then...
spec sheet says ''a lot more than 500'' in front of HP and ''even more than advertised'' in front or NM
apart from that, 2800kms...decent break-in period done before pushing the car to full redline but not a single smokey start. didn't oil since day 1 and only started after the last 2 track days where I am trying to seriously extracting the spec sheet figures
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GT Lover, Porsche fan
991.2 GT3 manual, 991 GT3 2014(sold)
Cayenne GTS 2014
27 juin 2018 00:27:39