2022 911 GT3 vs 2019 600LT | Spotted showdown!
What to buy: the definitive German road racer or an authentic British supercar? You decide
Porsche 911 GT3 (992), 2022, 10k, PH Auction
Wholly predictable though nominating a GT3 as the ultimate road and track tool is, there’s a very good reason for it: as Carly Simon so famously sang, nobody does it better. Here’s a car that can be as everyday usable as a Carrera (especially so with a nose lift, as here), which retains the front boot an RS so conspicuously does without (meaning proper road trips are viable), and which can also lap the Nurburgring in little more than seven minutes. No other car can boast such a broad array of talents. Many have tried to copy the GT3 template, and some have come very close, but there remains no other sports car better suited to just about everything.
So they don’t tend to change a great deal, or so it would seem: high-revving flat six, rear-drive, circuit optimised chassis and away you go. But every single time, for every single GT3, they just get that little bit better. Not always by a lot, but always by something. The 992, launched in 2022, was the perfect example, seemingly so similar to what went before that it had just 10hp more. But beneath a familiar silhouette was more downforce, a wider front track and double wishbone suspension for the first time, so it was even faster and more capable on track. Yet remained a joy to use on a road as well, alive and taut but still great company for getting to the circuit.
Honestly, what more could you ask for? A manual gearbox? Sure, this one has it, a key point of difference compared to all comparable track cars. Some can still offer a naturally aspirated engine (think Corvette Z06), but nothing else can pair the joy of 9,000rpm with stirring your own six-speed shifts. And we all know how persuasive that combination will always be. This 2022 car also benefits from a Porsche service history, the manufacturer warranty until next year, and an MOT until August. Nothing to stop you, then, from as many road and track miles as possible this year; a GT3 makes any kind of driving pretty much irresistible.
McLaren 600LT, 2019, 16k, £143,950
No doubt about it, the 992 iteration of the GT3 is fabulous. If you’re partial to the Porsche 911 specifically (and a manual ‘box generally), then there really is no substitute. But step back a pace or two and the car is not necessarily the last word in speed or dynamism or styling or interior ambience. Moreover, it almost goes without saying that for every poor soul daydreaming about GT3 ownership, there is another right-thinking enthusiast who would rather plunge their hand into a mousetrap than own a 911 of any stripe. And when it comes to Porsche’s famously selective policy of deciding who has earned a place in the queue to buy one new, who can blame them?
Of course, it is partly thanks to this practice that prices rival champagne corks for buoyancy. Obviously we’ve no idea how much the auction lot above will fetch next week, but current 992 market trends suggest it will be easily enough to meet the starting price for a used McLaren 600LT. Which, all things being equal - and to paraphrase Sean Connery - is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. The Longtail version of the 570S is lighter (check), more powerful (check), possesses a V8 (check), mounted longitudinally in its middle (check) and looks like a proper, honest-to-goodness supercar (check).
This one, admittedly in return for a premium, as the coupe is cheaper, is a Spider, which means it comes with the added benefit of panoramic views - a benefit that, thanks to the structural upsides of McLaren’s ubiquitous carbon fibre tub, comes with no downsides. But the most important thing is the fabulous, all-action way the 600LT drives, rivalling the connectedness of the GT3, yet without undoing a bewildering level of ride comfort familiar to virtually all McLarens. On track, it is savagely fast. Yes, it has a smaller boot, less space generally and much stupider infotainment - but those are hardly standout reasons to pay Porsche’s premium. What more could you ask for? All the ways the 600LT is different - and better value.
Speaking to a mate who is the dealer principle of a Porsche franchise in the north east - he advises that yes Porsche limits the number of gt cars they are allocated but it is totally the dealers discretion as to who they are sold to. And frequently will be guided by HQ as to the best customers to contact.
Another mate recently went it to a dealership and ordered a gt4rs to his exact spec having never even been to that dealer before - they suggested he needed to buy something to go with it - he refused and placed the order via their finance and got it.
Interestingly there are quite a few brand new actual gt4rs in AT currently - and used ones prices have normalised now
It is the dealers playing these games not the manufacturer.
And btw I’d have either of these in a heartbeat just not in those colour schemes
But could you have picked any duller-looking colour schemes? Or were they chosen to represent the national feeling of glumness at the moment?
However, with the right spec, I would go for the McLaren. For me, spending such sums of money would not be a rational choice; it would be emotional. Which car moved me (no pun intended) more? The McLaren looks like a supercar (but I accept that the GT3 sounds more like a supercar), and looks are hugely important for me.
I can completely understand someone who would prefer the 911 GT3. It's a great car. But I prefer the McLaren.
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