991 GT3 whooped by 991 Turbo S Silverstone yesterday
Discussion
teIt was nice to hear from both sides of the fence and it's all very friendly. It's everyone else keen to turn it into an argument!
I got to drive a Turbo S for a morning on road and track and was massively impressed. The issue was that it was capable, but not involving. The GT3 is an event just tootling down the road.
Certainly, if you wanted to be The Ronin and are just in it to beat people, then strap a set of Cups on a Turbo S and it sounds like you'll be king of the track day.
I got to drive a Turbo S for a morning on road and track and was massively impressed. The issue was that it was capable, but not involving. The GT3 is an event just tootling down the road.
Certainly, if you wanted to be The Ronin and are just in it to beat people, then strap a set of Cups on a Turbo S and it sounds like you'll be king of the track day.
hondansx said:
It was nice to hear from both sides of the fence and it's all very friendly. It's everyone else keen to turn it into an argument!
I got to drive a Turbo S for a morning on road and track and was massively impressed. The issue was that it was capable, but not involving. The GT3 is an event just tootling down the road.
Certainly, if you wanted to be The Ronin and are just in it to beat people, then strap a set of Cups on a Turbo S and it sounds like you'll be king of the track day.
But if that's your goal, buy a 996 turbo and spend £50k on tuning and suspension and annihilate both cars.I got to drive a Turbo S for a morning on road and track and was massively impressed. The issue was that it was capable, but not involving. The GT3 is an event just tootling down the road.
Certainly, if you wanted to be The Ronin and are just in it to beat people, then strap a set of Cups on a Turbo S and it sounds like you'll be king of the track day.
Playing Mr Big Dick on track shouldn't be what any stock Porsche is about.
Alpinestars said:
As mentioned earlier i thread ... Not a lot in it at all. I'd say on most circuits these pair are hard to split ! Kav1 said:
As mentioned earlier i thread ... Not a lot in it at all. I'd say on most circuits these pair are hard to split !
And as KAV1 said in his very first post..."I would still rather had been in my GT3 though ! The biggest difference is it feels BUILT FOR THE TRACK where Turbo S shows its extra weight and after 10 hard laps Turbo S feels like it needs a cool down where as GT3 feels like it can carry on all day"
This is the key here.
If the turbo was 10 seconds a lap quicker I still would want to be in the 991 GT3 too.
I recently had a 991 Turbo S for a weekend and although it was a massive improvement over the 997 Turbo (A car I sold within weeks of delivery) it was still very much a road car and one that after an hour I was a bit bored of.
5000 miles in my 991 GT3 so far and still every moment in it is exciting and rewarding.
Edited by 5517 on Monday 4th May 10:58
stewart rix said:
jackal said:
When I choose a car these days I generally look for a nice interior, a pleasing odour inside the cabin
So you'd walk on past anything with a christmas tree smelly hanging from the rear view mirror, despite its ability to do a banzai lap of the Nurburgring? 
5517 said:
Kav1 said:
As mentioned earlier i thread ... Not a lot in it at all. I'd say on most circuits these pair are hard to split !
And as KAV1 said in his very first post..."I would still rather had been in my GT3 though ! The biggest difference is it feels BUILT FOR THE TRACK where Turbo S shows its extra weight and after 10 hard laps Turbo S feels like it needs a cool down where as GT3 feels like it can carry on all day"
This is the key here.
If the turbo was 10 seconds a lap quicker I still would want to be in the 991 GT3 too.
I recently had a 991 Turbo S for a weekend and although it was a massive improvement over the 997 Turbo (A car I sold within weeks of delivery) it was still very much a road car and one that after an hour I was a bit bored of.
5000 miles in my 991 GT3 so far and still every moment in it is exciting and rewarding.
Edited by 5517 on Monday 4th May 10:58
Turbo S is soomuch better than I expected on track. Very balanced, very mid engined and the traction is absolutely superb. Spa in the wet was hilarious. After that tight hairpin on to home straight just plot through the gears from second and demolish even race cars in wets. There is loads of feedback through the wheel and it's an exciting car to drive and drive fast. It's biggest weakness are the p zeros, stick super sports and cup2s on and it would I'm sure have the grip to match the superb chassis. Despite being exciting it's still a bit safe, you have the hand of God pushing you along at all times. I imagine this is where the gt3 will be more exciting. My spaz on track is a world more exciting, very looking forward to the RS arriving for full on back to back test !
Kav1 said:
No doubt for me GT3 is the most exciting and rewarding of the pair. Having owned 996 and 997 generations of Turbo (s) and GT3 on average a-b roads the Turbo was always the quicker car (just) but on track GT3 would always be a good bit faster. This 991 generation however there really is nothing between GT3 and Turbo S on circuit , given the extra weight of the Turbo it's just an engineering masterclass from Porsche that they've been able to achieve this.
Not really. It's a lot harder to make a super fast turbo, on track or on the road.The GT3 is the masterclass! NA 3.8 engine putting out that power and torque while revving so freely. Astonishing piece of kit.
The Turbo is a piece with lots of modern supercars- AWD, two turbos, lots of torque, very heavy... All very familiar stuff.
woppum said:
Turbo S is soomuch better than I expected on track. Very balanced, very mid engined and the traction is absolutely superb. Spa in the wet was hilarious. After that tight hairpin on to home straight just plot through the gears from second and demolish even race cars in wets. There is loads of feedback through the wheel and it's an exciting car to drive and drive fast. It's biggest weakness are the p zeros, stick super sports and cup2s on and it would I'm sure have the grip to match the superb chassis. Despite being exciting it's still a bit safe, you have the hand of God pushing you along at all times. I imagine this is where the gt3 will be more exciting. My spaz on track is a world more exciting, very looking forward to the RS arriving for full on back to back test !
But I've seen vids of your track driving and you're a complete Billy! 
gerlewis said:
Could Porsche be trying to position the Turbo as the top dog to pave the way for their new Turbo engined 991 Replacements?
Ey?! Turbo has always been positioned above the GT3. The GT2 is/was the top dog. I think people get confused by this because of the second hand values of GT3's, new the turbo was always more expensive and seen as the flagship Porsche. Personally I doubt any gt3 of any generation was quicker round a track than its equivalent turbo, Porsche may have tried to make out this was the case to appeal to the hardcore track drivers by sticking super sticky rubber on etc.End of the day if you take one to a track the GT3 will always be more fun and provide higher levels of feedback even if it's not as quick - and that's it's purpose, no compromises
The turbo gives rear seats, super car performance and a relatively comfortable experience, whether that be on a track or on a b-road in the rain
Edited by shantybeater on Wednesday 6th May 19:56
woppum said:
Turbo S is soomuch better than I expected on track. Very balanced, very mid engined and the traction is absolutely superb. Spa in the wet was hilarious. After that tight hairpin on to home straight just plot through the gears from second and demolish even race cars in wets. There is loads of feedback through the wheel and it's an exciting car to drive and drive fast. It's biggest weakness are the p zeros, stick super sports and cup2s on and it would I'm sure have the grip to match the superb chassis. Despite being exciting it's still a bit safe, you have the hand of God pushing you along at all times. I imagine this is where the gt3 will be more exciting. My spaz on track is a world more exciting, very looking forward to the RS arriving for full on back to back test !
+1 on that. Turbo gets the stick for being a "plush fast car" and that was maybe the case for the models up to 991 but the 991 turbo s is an animal. Much more fun than the 997 turbo was. I think porsche needs to roll out a RS version of it and keep the 4wd... it would demolish most hypercars on slower tracks.. Gassing Station | 911/Carrera GT | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff