Five years with a 997.2 GT3RS
Discussion
I have recently done a few summaries of my experiences with my cars here including
2003 SL500
2005 Smart Fortwo
2008 GT3RS
2012 Jeep Wrangler.
This one is a little different, as it is one of the cars I actually sold after four years.
When the 997.2RS was announced, I was in two minds..I had a 7.1 that I was definitely going to keep, but the 7.2 was an advance over the earlier car, so I decided to tasked the plunge, and specified factory delivery. The car was built as specified…CF seats, Sports Chrono, and so on, white with red wheels and side flash, red-painted centre console and contrast stitching, and a very obscure rare option: For this model Porsche offered a thicker steering wheel which I liked greatly. Tried to retrofit one for the 7.1 but apparently it was never offered on the earlier car.
There were those who felt the finish was like Bozo the clown or a U Haul truck, but I am used to that kind of opinion and people are most certainly entitled to their own view
..
Picking up the car in Zuffenhausen, it had the lowest delivery mileage I have ever seen on a car (3.1km). At lower road speeds it did not feel all that different from the 7.1 to be honest- classic Mezger rattle at idle, agriculturally stiff clutch, go-kart like steering.. Loved the much better support from the seats.
I decided to run down to Austria and across to Prague and Berlin to run it in. ( which in my case means 500km shakedown) and then let it rip. As I got back into Germany though I started to run fairly hard on lower trafficked sections of the autobahn. One of the characteristics of the 7.1 was that at maximum speed it would start to lift in quite a scary way, with a feeling of almost no steering. At a cruising speed of 200km/h it was a pussycat
The 7.2 was hugely different. At an indicated 310Km/h it was stuck to the ground. There was no question that the revised aerodynamics were a massive advance over the earlier car. Based on a week or so of driving I thought it was ready for the track.
2003 SL500
2005 Smart Fortwo
2008 GT3RS
2012 Jeep Wrangler.
This one is a little different, as it is one of the cars I actually sold after four years.
When the 997.2RS was announced, I was in two minds..I had a 7.1 that I was definitely going to keep, but the 7.2 was an advance over the earlier car, so I decided to tasked the plunge, and specified factory delivery. The car was built as specified…CF seats, Sports Chrono, and so on, white with red wheels and side flash, red-painted centre console and contrast stitching, and a very obscure rare option: For this model Porsche offered a thicker steering wheel which I liked greatly. Tried to retrofit one for the 7.1 but apparently it was never offered on the earlier car.
There were those who felt the finish was like Bozo the clown or a U Haul truck, but I am used to that kind of opinion and people are most certainly entitled to their own view
..Picking up the car in Zuffenhausen, it had the lowest delivery mileage I have ever seen on a car (3.1km). At lower road speeds it did not feel all that different from the 7.1 to be honest- classic Mezger rattle at idle, agriculturally stiff clutch, go-kart like steering.. Loved the much better support from the seats.
I decided to run down to Austria and across to Prague and Berlin to run it in. ( which in my case means 500km shakedown) and then let it rip. As I got back into Germany though I started to run fairly hard on lower trafficked sections of the autobahn. One of the characteristics of the 7.1 was that at maximum speed it would start to lift in quite a scary way, with a feeling of almost no steering. At a cruising speed of 200km/h it was a pussycat
The 7.2 was hugely different. At an indicated 310Km/h it was stuck to the ground. There was no question that the revised aerodynamics were a massive advance over the earlier car. Based on a week or so of driving I thought it was ready for the track.
There was one thing in the way.
The Nürburgring was closed for the N24, although I had good access to the race, so off I went to Nürburg. The original plan was to watch the race and after the track was clear to have Hans Stuck take me for a run around the track with it.
Nürburg was as usual jammed for the race, and I had booked my usual place at the Hotel am Tiergarten. The 24 is the most accessible race of its kind and huge fun. Hans had gotten me access to the Audi pits for the race ( has was driving an R8), and I had the rare experience of being able to walk up and down the live pits during the 24 ( obviously careful to keep out of the way).
The 911 Hybrid was running so seeing it close up for pitstops was superb. However, the car that interested me was a bog-standard RS like mine apart from regulatory changes. It was driven by Chris Harris and some other auto-journos. -factory entry . Originally Walter Rohrl was to drive but he dropped out with a back problem. As the race went on Audi had lots of problems, and Hans had a bad crash. I spoke with him later but there was no way I would be getting a drive later in the week when the track opened. As it happened, Hans had sustained a heads injury which was not apparent at the time and was hospitalized for a period. He later recovered.
[IMG]https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n29/RMcG/Porsche%202010%20GT3RS/IMG_1838_zpse8d17c11.jpg[/IMGs
The Harris RS did very well on the race , coming 13th. I asked Porsche if they could hold the car back next day so I could picture it with mine. Sitting in the rain next day , the previously pristine car looked like it had been on a rally in mongolia. The 24 is up-close competition and it was covered in bashes and scuff marks, and filthy. It is amazing how much punishment a car can take in this kind of event. However, after the photos it was driven back to Zuffenhausen and not trucked..
The next few days had no track open so I went over to see Sabine Schmitz at her farm where she had yet another 7.2RS as a road car. I asked her to drive mine and she suddenly got serious ( not her normal personality). She told me there had been a problem with centre locks and a car had crashed on the NS, and so had her mechanic check the car before she would drive it.
Later, when th car arrived back in Canada I asked the dealer if there had been a recall.
No recall.
Three months later Porsche recalled all the cars and every hub was replaced.
The Nürburgring was closed for the N24, although I had good access to the race, so off I went to Nürburg. The original plan was to watch the race and after the track was clear to have Hans Stuck take me for a run around the track with it.
Nürburg was as usual jammed for the race, and I had booked my usual place at the Hotel am Tiergarten. The 24 is the most accessible race of its kind and huge fun. Hans had gotten me access to the Audi pits for the race ( has was driving an R8), and I had the rare experience of being able to walk up and down the live pits during the 24 ( obviously careful to keep out of the way).
The 911 Hybrid was running so seeing it close up for pitstops was superb. However, the car that interested me was a bog-standard RS like mine apart from regulatory changes. It was driven by Chris Harris and some other auto-journos. -factory entry . Originally Walter Rohrl was to drive but he dropped out with a back problem. As the race went on Audi had lots of problems, and Hans had a bad crash. I spoke with him later but there was no way I would be getting a drive later in the week when the track opened. As it happened, Hans had sustained a heads injury which was not apparent at the time and was hospitalized for a period. He later recovered.
[IMG]https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n29/RMcG/Porsche%202010%20GT3RS/IMG_1838_zpse8d17c11.jpg[/IMGs
The Harris RS did very well on the race , coming 13th. I asked Porsche if they could hold the car back next day so I could picture it with mine. Sitting in the rain next day , the previously pristine car looked like it had been on a rally in mongolia. The 24 is up-close competition and it was covered in bashes and scuff marks, and filthy. It is amazing how much punishment a car can take in this kind of event. However, after the photos it was driven back to Zuffenhausen and not trucked..
The next few days had no track open so I went over to see Sabine Schmitz at her farm where she had yet another 7.2RS as a road car. I asked her to drive mine and she suddenly got serious ( not her normal personality). She told me there had been a problem with centre locks and a car had crashed on the NS, and so had her mechanic check the car before she would drive it.
Later, when th car arrived back in Canada I asked the dealer if there had been a recall.
No recall.
Three months later Porsche recalled all the cars and every hub was replaced.
And so, onto the track
The car felt rock solid and had capabilities far beyond my talents. I ran it on dry and very wet conditions. It was definitely squirrelly in the wet, but a significant leap forward from the 7.1
Over the subsequent four years the car was rallied and tracked in Canada. From a reliability point of view it was bulletproof. Apart from the recall the only problem I had was a solenoid that sense when the clutch pedal was depressed. When it failed the car would not start. Minor issue and under warranty.
I would probably have kept it- it was a better car than the 7.1,though recognizably the same model. But then, the 991 RS came along and I really wanted one. Something had to go. I debated what to do. In the send the 7.1 was my first RS and I just couldn’t sell it, so it was goodbye to the 7.2 , a brilliant car in every respect.
Still, I will never buy two of the same series again. Better to have the major leap with each all-new series than the more incremental leap within a series
But, I still miss it. All I have left is the model…..
Still…the 991RS was on its way.
The car felt rock solid and had capabilities far beyond my talents. I ran it on dry and very wet conditions. It was definitely squirrelly in the wet, but a significant leap forward from the 7.1
Over the subsequent four years the car was rallied and tracked in Canada. From a reliability point of view it was bulletproof. Apart from the recall the only problem I had was a solenoid that sense when the clutch pedal was depressed. When it failed the car would not start. Minor issue and under warranty.
I would probably have kept it- it was a better car than the 7.1,though recognizably the same model. But then, the 991 RS came along and I really wanted one. Something had to go. I debated what to do. In the send the 7.1 was my first RS and I just couldn’t sell it, so it was goodbye to the 7.2 , a brilliant car in every respect.
Still, I will never buy two of the same series again. Better to have the major leap with each all-new series than the more incremental leap within a series
But, I still miss it. All I have left is the model…..
Still…the 991RS was on its way.
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