Help choosing which GT3

Help choosing which GT3

Author
Discussion

Chris-34nmw

Original Poster:

294 posts

101 months

Wednesday 11th July 2018
quotequote all
Hi,

I am wondering if any PHers with GT3s would be kind enough to help me with deciding between a 996 or a 997.2 please? I'm looking for in-person chat about ownership perspective and for a passenger ride in the respective cars (especially the 996) before hunkering down and targeting specific cars at dealers. I can provide good cheer, banter and Citroen C1 endurance racing tips (or promise not to) in return. SW/Midlands/Oxford area if poss.

Background is I would really like a 997.2 but it has not escaped me that a 996 would be a guaranteed mechanism to also remaining in my current aircooled 3.2 hotrod and maybe even hotrodding it further... PFA!



There is a very nice 996.2 Comfort at JZM at the moment which looks like my perfect spec. I'm looking for the ultimate fast road car and I'm not afraid of no driver aids and I already own 4 cars with roll cages so the stories of a 997 being easier to live with don't put me off!

Having said that the 997.2 is extremely tempting, and the last small manual Mezger....

It's to drive the wheels off and own for a number of years and not an investment. The cheaper car would also likely encourage use.

All help gratefully received.

Chris



Edited by Chris-34nmw on Wednesday 11th July 22:52

Joehow

569 posts

114 months

Wednesday 11th July 2018
quotequote all
That 996.2 you speak of is a nice car and very clean.

I have a 996.2 gt3 comfort but with buckets. I adore it.

My father has a 997.2 clubsport.

I prefer the 996 on the road it feels a bit more lively whilst still being properly quick. The 997.2 although a little hampered by gearing is quicker.

Personally though and especially with cups i feel you need a circuit or big road to properly enjoy it.

Either way though both are magical.




Porsche911R

21,146 posts

264 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
Chris-34nmw said:
Hi,


It's to drive the wheels off . ]
that's the issue, while you can drive the wheels off the car you have now, you won't be able too in a GT3

some times the dream is disappointing... I sold mine for a Cayman R as have a few owners.
A car you can drive the wheels off and have a load of fun in for 1/2 the money.

we will have the 996 GT3 crew turn up soon, it's a very bias view , good luck ;-)

some say they are quick , some say they are not again depends who owns what :-)
A GT3 never been about out right speed until the last few cars, so they are not that fast really, what's hard is getting to see where the engine sings in 3rd gear, that was my issue, one never could, the cars sort of too slow to get to the high RPM in 3rd on B roads due to gearing or traffic or space.

you go though the gears get to about 6k in 3rd than you either hit a bend or traffic just about where the cars comes to life !

One of the most frustrating cars you can own imo. unless you like A roads and silly speeds. I seemed to find myself in no mans land in 3rd gear way to often !!!

most hot hatch's will pull away from a 996 on B roads.

Depends what you want the car for, and that's the key thing to ownership/enjoyment.

Edited by Porsche911R on Thursday 12th July 09:20

Heathrow

444 posts

129 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
I went from a modded 996.2 C2 (the CSR by RPM Technik) to a stock 996.2 GT3, via a GT4 in between. Both are great and I like the 996 for it's small footprint on UK roads. Very easy to place. I don't find the power delivery to be inaccessible in the GT3 for road driving. As great at the C2 was, I always hankered after the Mezger for that top end. It's intoxicating. The gearbox is much better in the GT3 too (with the short shift kit installed I should add).

I've seen the car at JZM, it's in great condition inside and out. For me though the winged back buckets and half cage make it a much more purposely looking interior. Such frippery aside though, it's still the same gearbox and engine so you pays yer money...

Heathrow

444 posts

129 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
Porsche911R said:
One of the most frustrating cars you can own imo. unless you like A roads and silly speeds. I seemed to find myself in no mans land in 3rd gear way to often !!!

Edited by Porsche911R on Thursday 12th July 09:20
Compared to, say, a 991.2 GT3 for instance? LOL

Steve Rance

5,435 posts

230 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
The 996 will be a more raw and tactile experience, the 997 will be a more civilised package. being fully analogue, the 996 will give you more feedback and be more invoving as a result. Both great cars but different in personality. It really depends on what exactly you want. I'd also throw a 997 Gen 1 into the mix as they are approx £20k cheaper than the Gen 2 and the differences are quite marginal - although they are both very simialr in character in as much as the 997 gen 1 is not a step towards the 996 in terms of tactility.

Whatever car you end up with, you wont be disapointed

Porsche911R

21,146 posts

264 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
Heathrow said:
Compared to, say, a 991.2 GT3 for instance? LOL
people seem to never grasp it, faster cars need less space hence turbo owners always looking for more power because they can use it no issue.

I will get to max Bhp in 3rd in my GT3 in a shorter space than a 996 will red line in 3rd, due to my greater speed I am on the brakes more etc etc it's a much more involving drive. I then have way more Torque out the bends for a bit of action. but yes I am going faster which can be seen as an another issue.

All I am saying it it's not always that clear what is fun on the road, my 996 GT3 I found disappointing, I'll not go on about it as it upsets too many people and every one will swear at me and tell me to **** off derailing every GT3 thread.

The 996 is not that fast and the space you need to wind it up closes on you very quick, for me and it's my opinion, I did not enjoy the car so sold it.
And it's not about the car you own, I am very honest when I owned it and my GT4 in reviews, it's very un blinkered :-)

imo the cars a bit of a fail on UK B roads , that's my opinion having owned and sold one due to that.

people say cars are an event at any speed, that's just bks ;-)

Chris-34nmw

Original Poster:

294 posts

101 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
I have considered the 7.1, this was my starting point, having owned a C2 7.1 in the past.

However that would still probably mean chopping the 3.2, and if I'm doing that in my view I'm best parking all of my money into a last of the line (save RS/4.0) 7.2 before they came all largey and automaticy. It's another 20k on top of the extra 20k. Each 20k buys you small margins :-)

I am sure they are an awesome car.

Slippydiff

14,742 posts

222 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
Porsche911R said:
that's the issue, while you can drive the wheels off the car you have now, you won't be able too in a GT3

some times the dream is disappointing... I sold mine for a Cayman R as have a few owners.
A car you can drive the wheels off and have a load of fun in for 1/2 the money.

we will have the 996 GT3 crew turn up soon, it's a very bias view , good luck ;-)

some say they are quick , some say they are not again depends who owns what :-)
A GT3 never been about out right speed until the last few cars, so they are not that fast really, what's hard is getting to see where the engine sings in 3rd gear, that was my issue, one never could, the cars sort of too slow to get to the high RPM in 3rd on B roads due to gearing or traffic or space.

you go though the gears get to about 6k in 3rd than you either hit a bend or traffic just about where the cars comes to life !

One of the most frustrating cars you can own imo. unless you like A roads and silly speeds. I seemed to find myself in no mans land in 3rd gear way to often !!!

most hot hatch's will pull away from a 996 on B roads.

Depends what you want the car for, and that's the key thing to ownership/enjoyment.

Edited by Porsche911R on Thursday 12th July 09:20
As opposed to what ? The one man vandetta you've waged against the 996 GT3 these past years ?
You'll be telling us next you're completely unbiased ??

You couldn't work out how to drive it. We get it. You didn't like it as result. We get it. You appear to suffer from cognitive bias. We get it. It would appear you derive great pleasure from winding others up, even when they clearly have more experience in these cars and know, understand and enjoy their chassis dynamics/foibles far far better than you ever did, or ever will. We get that too.

What we don't get is why you persist in posting the same old propaganda at every opportunity, day in, day out, week in, week out, month in, month out, year in, year out ?

Everyone else has moved on, and tried different toys, no one has made a point of constantly berating YOUR choice of car, yet you seem to feel the need to judge and belittle others choices.

You're clearly an intelligent individual who runs a successful business, please, please, please accept we all have freedom to chose what we drive, where we live, what we live in, who we have as friends, where we holiday, what we eat and a whole plethora of other amazing choices, and we appreciate you and everybody else on here have a choice, but your constantly berating certain cars does you no favours and makes you appear to have issues (I've stopped short of saying what I think your issue is, as this is a public forum, and it's neither my place to air my views, nor would it be kind or polite to do so).

Suffice to say your posts have frequently (many may say always) been inflammatory and insensitive, regrettably now they ARE becoming tiresome.
Do yourself a massive favour David, take a step back and ask yourself if your constantly berating certain cars/other contributors choices actually serves any purpose ? Other than to make you feel better about your choices.

Chris-34nmw

Original Poster:

294 posts

101 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
Porsche911R said:
that's the issue, while you can drive the wheels off the car you have now, you won't be able too in a GT3

some say they are quick , some say they are not again depends who owns what :-)

you go though the gears get to about 6k in 3rd than you either hit a bend or traffic just about where the cars comes to life !

One of the most frustrating cars you can own imo. unless you like A roads and silly speeds. I seemed to find myself in no mans land in 3rd gear way to often !!!

most hot hatch's will pull away from a 996 on B roads.

Edited by Porsche911R on Thursday 12th July 09:20
Bit confused by this one. Too slow or too quick.

Traffic - You don't live in the south east do you? I can be in mid wales inside an hour :-)

Seriously though the "slowness" of the 996 compared to later cars is part of the appeal in a road car to be honest.

n12maser

580 posts

91 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
Slippy - DON'T FEED THE TROLL

Slippydiff

14,742 posts

222 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
OP, try both (an extended road test on a good variety of roads) and it will be obvious to you which suits your needs best once you've done so.

As you can see from a certain contributors "rant", these cars polarize opinions like few others...

You'll need to ensure any cars you drive are in rude health, a 996 on tired, worn, poorly adjusted suspension is woeful to drive ...

lemmingjames

7,433 posts

203 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
before it starts into a slanging match;
basically if you like modding, get the 996
if your worried about potential bills that could be covered by a warranty, get the 997


lemmingjames

7,433 posts

203 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
Slippydiff said:
You'll need to ensure any cars you drive are in rude health, a 996 on tired, worn, poorly adjusted suspension is woeful to drive ...
But could be a good project car as well. Though wouldnt a 997 need a suspension refresh by now given the '5 year cycle' for the 996?

Porsche911R

21,146 posts

264 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
Slippydiff said:
As opposed to what ? The one man vandetta you've waged against the 996 GT3 these past years ?
You'll be telling us next you're completely unbiased ??

You couldn't work out how to drive it. We get it. You didn't like it as result. We get it. You appear to suffer from cognitive bias. We get it. It would appear you derive great pleasure from winding others up, even when they clearly have more experience in these cars and know, understand and enjoy their chassis dynamics/foibles far far better than you ever did, or ever will. We get that too.

What we don't get is why you persist in posting the same old propaganda at every opportunity, day in, day out, week in, week out, month in, month out, year in, year out ?

Everyone else has moved on, and tried different toys, no one has made a point of constantly berating YOUR choice of car, yet you seem to feel the need to judge and belittle others choices.

You're clearly an intelligent individual who runs a successful business, please, please, please accept we all have freedom to chose what we drive, where we live, what we live in, who we have as friends, where we holiday, what we eat and a whole plethora of other amazing choices, and we appreciate you and everybody else on here have a choice, but your constantly berating certain cars does you no favours and makes you appear to have issues (I've stopped short of saying what I think your issue is, as this is a public forum, and it's neither my place to air my views, nor would it be kind or polite to do so).

Suffice to say your posts have frequently (many may say always) been inflammatory and insensitive, regrettably now they ARE becoming tiresome.
Do yourself a massive favour David, take a step back and ask yourself if your constantly berating certain cars/other contributors choices actually serves any purpose ? Other than to make you feel better about your choices.
I wish I could be as great as you ;-) so you telling me I have no idea how to drive now ? lets not make it a me vs you battle like the old days, you will win and I'll leave the forum again as you beat me to the ground and kick me when I am down.

Porsche911R

21,146 posts

264 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
Chris-34nmw said:
Bit confused by this one. Too slow or too quick.


Seriously though the "slowness" of the 996 compared to later cars is part of the appeal in a road car to be honest.
too medium :-) so neither.

Slower cars can be fun as you hit the limits of the car sooner, fast cars can be fun as you are doing more due to the greater speeds in-between the bends, medium cars can be frustrating, I also put my GT4 in this area also, too fast to be fun as a slow car, but yet not fast enough to be fun as a fast car !!! odd I know :-) some will get it the others will call me a .



of course now I get the "I cannot drive for st " comments lol I'am out, good luck to the OP on his choice.

my advice is try and get drives on the roads you will be driving, which in older GT3 is very hard, but don't get overwhelmed buy the new car test drive.
Took me about 8 months for the car to piss me off as owning the GT3 was living the dream at the time :-) I drove mine less and less then thought why do I own it !

Best B road blasters are Caterhams, Atoms, Elise and the 987.2 Spyder imo :-) odd also that open top brings more fun but I am a coupe man !!!
A night drive on a clear night roof off in a Elise or a Spyder is unmatchable in any coupe, I am too old for Caterhams and Atoms :-)




Slippydiff

14,742 posts

222 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
Porsche911R said:
I wish I could be as great as you ;-) so you telling me I have no idea how to drive now ? lets not make it a me vs you battle like the old days, you will win and I'll leave the forum again as you beat me to the ground and kick me when I am down.
It's simple David. Think and step back before you post and/or moderate the manner in which you post. Ask yourself, does what I'm about to post serve any purpose ? Have I said it before ? Is it helpful ?

When you post stuff such as "I wish I could be as great as you" or "So you telling me I have no idea how to drive now" you do yourself no favours, it's the kind of response you'd expect from a kid in the school playground who spouts stuff along the lines of "My dad's bigger than your Dad" etc.

I've no wish to battle with you like in the old days, none whatsoever. We all have different opinions, but when you insist on regurgitating the same old propaganda over and over again, you irritate many and make yourself appear a petulant child who chose the wrong toy and can't get over the fact there was nothing wrong with the toy, it was merely you didn't enjoy playing with it as much others did.

No one forced you leave here previously, and certainly not me. You choose not to conform with the majority when it comes to our/their ownership/driving experiences with the 996 GT3 (or any GT3 for that matter) and you've taken it upon yourself to wage a one man crusade against the same (though as we've seen on several occasions previously, you're all too willing to change your allegiance as when and if suits your agenda) doing so has annoyed and irritated many, and rather than having the decency to stop, you've continued, knowing full well that your views grate and that many will rebut the propaganda you chose to trot out at any and every opportunity. Ergo it's obvious to all on here you like to argue on a forum for the sake of arguing and to be contentious and inflamatory too.

In doing so, there reached a point whereby pretty much everyone on here tired of you, and turned on you. You assert you got "depressed" about being "bullied" on here and flounced off blaming everyone but yourself.

It's your inability to moderate your posts, or better still move on, or ignore threads such as these altogether, that creates the vitriol you so frequently experience from other contributors. Once you do, you'll find the PH world a nicer place to exist.
You're not the only dissenting voice when it comes to GT3 ownership, but regrettably you're the most frequent, the most vociferous and often the most obnoxious too, and as long as you continue to be as much, you can expect sarcasm, aggression and a whole plethora of other negative responses to your posts.

Chris-34nmw

Original Poster:

294 posts

101 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
Oh dear what kind of pandora's box have I opened here.

Thanks to those so far providing an opinion on the cars themselves (including slippery and Mr. R). But any chance we can get back on topic?

Are there any members within a 100 mile radius of me who wouldn't mind taking me for a quick passenger ride in their cars?

Dealers seem reluctant to let me test drive either variant until I discuss my offer first. Which until I resolve 6.2 or 7.2 I am not going to do.

And given the pool of dealers I would actually buy from is very small I am reluctant to string them along.

I would be very grateful to anyone willing to offer a quick meet at their convenience to help me out.



lemmingjames

7,433 posts

203 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
you need to post your location first ;-)

might be worth joining the 996 gt3 facebook group as well asking for a passenger ride as theres more vocal members on there than here

Slippydiff

14,742 posts

222 months

Thursday 12th July 2018
quotequote all
Chris-34nmw said:
Oh dear what kind of pandora's box have I opened here.

Thanks to those so far providing an opinion on the cars themselves (including slippery and Mr. R). But any chance we can get back on topic?

Are there any members within a 100 mile radius of me who wouldn't mind taking me for a quick passenger ride in their cars?

Dealers seem reluctant to let me test drive either variant until I discuss my offer first. Which until I resolve 6.2 or 7.2 I am not going to do.

And given the pool of dealers I would actually buy from is very small I am reluctant to string them along.

I would be very grateful to anyone willing to offer a quick meet at their convenience to help me out.
Apologies, you've stumbled into the midst of one of the PH Porsche forum's longest running (and oft vitriolic) differences of opinion. I've owned four Mk1 996 GT3's and I think they are a truly wonderful car, David has owned one Mk2 briefly, and hated it.

I've little experience of the Mk2 (I prefer the Mk1) so I've chosen not to comment. I'm sure there are plenty on here who'll be able to provide you with a helpful, unbiased opinion of the Mk2.
Good luck with whichever you chose to buy, be it 996 or 997, and enjoy the selection process smile