Discussion
Looking for some informative advise here from anyone who has had a GT3 and moved onto a GTR please...I will hortly be buying one of these car's but before i make the plunge wanted some real world feed back from current or past owners.....And before anyone shouts out 'Drive them Both' I already have thats why im split.....
I haven't owned a GT3, but I spend 4 days in one very recently (997 gen 1) and did lots of mileage. It was the car I was going to get if I didn't get the GT-R, so I had a slightly journalistic approach when driving it.
The Porsche is a much firmer car and was great to drive, but for primarily road usage, the GT-R wins for me. The biggest reason is as follows:
The Porsche makes peak power at around 8,400rpm, and really doesn't come alive until over 6k. 6,000rpm in second gear equates to 60mph, so you need to be doing 60mph before the car really comes alive in terms of straight line pace. You then go on to 82mph to reach the point of peak power in 2nd gear. That's beyond motorway speed just to hit the sweet-spot.
Compare this to the GT-R which is kicking really hard at 3,000rpm, you can use a lot more of the acceleration without being too far the wrong side of the speed limit. The GT3 requires a fully committed driver, so became somewhat irresponsible to "use" the power IMO.
The GT-R just makes the power a lot more accessible ranging from 2.5k to 6.5k instead of 6k to 8.5k.
The Porsche has razor-sharp handling though, and a really great driving position. I felt quite high up once back in the GT-R. Also, the GT-R is a much bigger car width-wise. As a result, the Porsche could be fed down a nice single lane country road a bit easier than the GT-R which was nice.
My opinions come from a road perspective, but if I were using it for trackdays too, I'd definitely go for the Porsche, where the car would really come alive, and cost a great deal less than the GT-R to maintain.
I'm not sure if this will help you or confuse you further, but it's the conclusion I came to having driven both cars for a decent amount of time. I didn't go in biased as a GT-R owner. I loved the Porsche, but for road use I was very glad I stuck with the GT-R.
Oh and another quick note, I don't recall getting any turning heads from people I drove past in the Porsche, since only car nuts can tell a GT3 from a Carrera etc. The GT-R will turn heads everywhere you go in it though. A small side-point, but still made the GT-R feel more special as a result.
The Porsche is a much firmer car and was great to drive, but for primarily road usage, the GT-R wins for me. The biggest reason is as follows:
The Porsche makes peak power at around 8,400rpm, and really doesn't come alive until over 6k. 6,000rpm in second gear equates to 60mph, so you need to be doing 60mph before the car really comes alive in terms of straight line pace. You then go on to 82mph to reach the point of peak power in 2nd gear. That's beyond motorway speed just to hit the sweet-spot.
Compare this to the GT-R which is kicking really hard at 3,000rpm, you can use a lot more of the acceleration without being too far the wrong side of the speed limit. The GT3 requires a fully committed driver, so became somewhat irresponsible to "use" the power IMO.
The GT-R just makes the power a lot more accessible ranging from 2.5k to 6.5k instead of 6k to 8.5k.
The Porsche has razor-sharp handling though, and a really great driving position. I felt quite high up once back in the GT-R. Also, the GT-R is a much bigger car width-wise. As a result, the Porsche could be fed down a nice single lane country road a bit easier than the GT-R which was nice.
My opinions come from a road perspective, but if I were using it for trackdays too, I'd definitely go for the Porsche, where the car would really come alive, and cost a great deal less than the GT-R to maintain.
I'm not sure if this will help you or confuse you further, but it's the conclusion I came to having driven both cars for a decent amount of time. I didn't go in biased as a GT-R owner. I loved the Porsche, but for road use I was very glad I stuck with the GT-R.
Oh and another quick note, I don't recall getting any turning heads from people I drove past in the Porsche, since only car nuts can tell a GT3 from a Carrera etc. The GT-R will turn heads everywhere you go in it though. A small side-point, but still made the GT-R feel more special as a result.
bullrunner said:
Laurence thanks for that...Can you advise what yoru running costs are like for the GTR as I undertsnad it needs to be serviced twice a year and can get through tyres....
Well I don't really know yet since it's not due it's 6 month service until the end of this month. I hear that basic servicing is pretty reasonable to be honest. The 6 month is just an oil and filter change I think. I expect to pay about £250. The big expense comes from track days. If the gearbox oil exceeds a certain temperature, it's another £850!!! Also brakes are expensive, but again, it's track days that will wear them. Road use will see them last a good while.As for tyres, after 3,500 miles, mine are looking in pretty good shape. You will see loads of people complaining about inner tyre wear. That's because they have gone for the race setting (more negative camber) thinking it will make the car faster, and more camber ALWAYS = better. It's not the case though. The Race geo setup won't gain you anything except less mileage from your tyres on the road.
These are probably the same people who drive around with the suspension in R mode everywhere, which again probably won't help your tyre wear situation.
From what I can see, the GT-R is only mega expensive to run if you track it, crash it, or drive through nails
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