Cayman GTS/GT4 & 911 GTS/GT3 vs Lotus Exige Sport 380
Discussion
I've recently had the pleasure to do the PalmerSport Full Day and the Porsche GT3 Experience at the Silverstone PEC (991.2 GT3RS, 991.1 GT3, 997 GT3RS, 992.1 Carrera). After driving some lightweight cars, including the F3000 single seater, I've been absolutely gobsmacked by how much difference the weight makes to how a car feels. The way the light cars break and turn is incredible: my (now sold) M4 CP felt like a boat afterwards.
I was wondering if anyone has driven the more hardcore Exiges (e.g., Sport 380) and have an idea how they compare against a Cayman GTS / GT4 (981 and 718) and 991 GTS/GT3s. The part that I do not like about the Lotus is the build quality/interior quality.
I'm not looking for speed/pace but rather feel/fun at road legal-ish speeds. I will not be tracking the car.
I was wondering if anyone has driven the more hardcore Exiges (e.g., Sport 380) and have an idea how they compare against a Cayman GTS / GT4 (981 and 718) and 991 GTS/GT3s. The part that I do not like about the Lotus is the build quality/interior quality.
I'm not looking for speed/pace but rather feel/fun at road legal-ish speeds. I will not be tracking the car.
c3m said:
I've recently had the pleasure to do the PalmerSport Full Day and the Porsche GT3 Experience at the Silverstone PEC (991.2 GT3RS, 991.1 GT3, 997 GT3RS, 992.1 Carrera). After driving some lightweight cars, including the F3000 single seater, I've been absolutely gobsmacked by how much difference the weight makes to how a car feels. The way the light cars break and turn is incredible: my (now sold) M4 CP felt like a boat afterwards.
I was wondering if anyone has driven the more hardcore Exiges (e.g., Sport 380) and have an idea how they compare against a Cayman GTS / GT4 (981 and 718) and 991 GTS/GT3s. The part that I do not like about the Lotus is the build quality/interior quality.
I'm not looking for speed/pace but rather feel/fun at road legal-ish speeds. I will not be tracking the car.
Imo P cars of the moment for pure ROAD: I was wondering if anyone has driven the more hardcore Exiges (e.g., Sport 380) and have an idea how they compare against a Cayman GTS / GT4 (981 and 718) and 991 GTS/GT3s. The part that I do not like about the Lotus is the build quality/interior quality.
I'm not looking for speed/pace but rather feel/fun at road legal-ish speeds. I will not be tracking the car.
718 GTS 4.0
991.2 Carrera (Base or T) Stripped spec.
I’ve driven Lotus Exige and Evora, both in 410 trim.
Exige would be a 3rd or 4th car in the garage for me. Its purely for the drive.
Overall 718 GTS is better than Evora for me.
I think if you're not going to track then a GTS of some sort is your best bet.
If you only need 2 seats then either a 981 GTS or a 718 4.0 would be a good choice. I haven't driven a 4.0 yet, but I loved the CGTS I had for a couple of years, so that would be my choice.
It's possible you might get a good deal on a used 2.5t GTS, which you should try as well - it's very fast and effective on the road, though it doesn't have the aural appeal of the NA cars.
There's also less chance these will have been tracked, though many GT3/4 owners seem to be happier talking about their cars, as opposed to driving them.
Lotus may be great, but the build quality rep is unfortunately well earned over a long period of time.
If you only need 2 seats then either a 981 GTS or a 718 4.0 would be a good choice. I haven't driven a 4.0 yet, but I loved the CGTS I had for a couple of years, so that would be my choice.
It's possible you might get a good deal on a used 2.5t GTS, which you should try as well - it's very fast and effective on the road, though it doesn't have the aural appeal of the NA cars.
There's also less chance these will have been tracked, though many GT3/4 owners seem to be happier talking about their cars, as opposed to driving them.
Lotus may be great, but the build quality rep is unfortunately well earned over a long period of time.
Look unless people are really really thick we all know the speeds in gear have gone up due to 20” wheels and now higher rev limits.
The only real shorter box was the 2.7 models.
What you might find is the GT4 PDK due to 20” wheels and higher revs limits a PDK car might still be worse than a manual 987 or be just about on par with a 987 manuals.
The crap issue from a driving point of view is manual 981 and 718's the latter more so due to this higher rev range don’t get out of 3rd gear now unless you change at 5k and use just 250bhp of the 400bhp you have .....
People quoting 2% are dreaming, it's more like 10/15% increase in gear speeds.
If you take a 1/4 mile straight on a B road the 981/718 not getting out of 3rd gear these days !!! Where a 987 will due to smaller wheels and a lower rev limit and thus far more interactive.
And like wise a GT3 will easy get out of 3rd on a small straight as the bhp reduces the road space needed to do so.
996 GT3, 997 GT3, all Manual 3.4 981 and all 4.0 718 all fall into this frustrating issue where the cars gearing and speeds makes it fall into this 3rd gear trap :-( Infact the worse drivers car from all these is a manual 981 S/GTS. Where the reverse is thought to be true. Which is funny when you read PH,s bulls
t.
The quite GT3 owner just fit a Short final drive and get on with it.
The rest are happy to lie and say changing at 5k is fine.
:-)
The only real shorter box was the 2.7 models.
What you might find is the GT4 PDK due to 20” wheels and higher revs limits a PDK car might still be worse than a manual 987 or be just about on par with a 987 manuals.
The crap issue from a driving point of view is manual 981 and 718's the latter more so due to this higher rev range don’t get out of 3rd gear now unless you change at 5k and use just 250bhp of the 400bhp you have .....
People quoting 2% are dreaming, it's more like 10/15% increase in gear speeds.
If you take a 1/4 mile straight on a B road the 981/718 not getting out of 3rd gear these days !!! Where a 987 will due to smaller wheels and a lower rev limit and thus far more interactive.
And like wise a GT3 will easy get out of 3rd on a small straight as the bhp reduces the road space needed to do so.
996 GT3, 997 GT3, all Manual 3.4 981 and all 4.0 718 all fall into this frustrating issue where the cars gearing and speeds makes it fall into this 3rd gear trap :-( Infact the worse drivers car from all these is a manual 981 S/GTS. Where the reverse is thought to be true. Which is funny when you read PH,s bulls
t.The quite GT3 owner just fit a Short final drive and get on with it.
The rest are happy to lie and say changing at 5k is fine.
:-)
Edited by Porsche911R on Wednesday 23 September 16:05
Porsche911R said:
Look unless people are really really thick we all know the speeds in gear have gone up due to 20” wheels and now higher rev limits.
Maximum possible in gear speeds due to rev limits or wheel diameters are irrelevant when talking about gear ratios from the same gear box.Porsche911R said:
People quoting 2% are dreaming, it's more like 10/15% increase in gear speeds.
2% is the difference in gear speeds purely due to the increased rolling circumference of the 20" wheels on a rev-for-rev basis, ignoring increased rev limits.MannyLon said:
Do people really rev to the max all the time as the above post implies.
Ofcourse not, but the modern gt cars are high reving engines and where the bhp is ! If you never take the car up the revs you will never get 400bhp ! May as well buy a 2.7 with a shorter box and see the same 250bhp ......be more fun ! On a drive out for “fun” I like to go all the way, it’s exciting, the building noise, the vibration the need to nail a fast perfect shift , changing by ear and the tone before the limiter and ofcourse the speed, all very exciting and involving.
These modern GT car and older 996/997 gt cars are dead below 5.5k revs. Peak torque in my GT3 is I think over 6k revs !!! You have to change gear at >8k to drop you back in the true power band.
Porsche911R said:
Ofcourse not, but the modern gt cars are high reving engines and where the bhp is ! If you never take the car up the revs you will never get 400bhp ! May as well buy a 2.7 with a shorter box and see the same 250bhp ......be more fun !
On a drive out for “fun” I like to go all the way, it’s exciting, the building noise, the vibration the need to nail a fast perfect shift , changing by ear and the tone before the limiter and ofcourse the speed, all very exciting and involving.
These modern GT car and older 996/997 gt cars are dead below 5.5k revs. Peak torque in my GT3 is I think over 6k revs !!! You have to change gear at >8k to drop you back in the true power band.
Afraid your wrong. You don't need to max rev it to enjoy it. i believe the torque distribution is fairly even through the range so you don't have to push to the red line all the time. The only time I max rev is on track.On a drive out for “fun” I like to go all the way, it’s exciting, the building noise, the vibration the need to nail a fast perfect shift , changing by ear and the tone before the limiter and ofcourse the speed, all very exciting and involving.
These modern GT car and older 996/997 gt cars are dead below 5.5k revs. Peak torque in my GT3 is I think over 6k revs !!! You have to change gear at >8k to drop you back in the true power band.
And I'm not a liar
MannyLon said:
Porsche911R said:
Ofcourse not, but the modern gt cars are high reving engines and where the bhp is ! If you never take the car up the revs you will never get 400bhp ! May as well buy a 2.7 with a shorter box and see the same 250bhp ......be more fun !
On a drive out for “fun” I like to go all the way, it’s exciting, the building noise, the vibration the need to nail a fast perfect shift , changing by ear and the tone before the limiter and ofcourse the speed, all very exciting and involving.
These modern GT car and older 996/997 gt cars are dead below 5.5k revs. Peak torque in my GT3 is I think over 6k revs !!! You have to change gear at >8k to drop you back in the true power band.
Afraid your wrong. You don't need to max rev it to enjoy it. i believe the torque distribution is fairly even through the range so you don't have to push to the red line all the time. The only time I max rev is on track.On a drive out for “fun” I like to go all the way, it’s exciting, the building noise, the vibration the need to nail a fast perfect shift , changing by ear and the tone before the limiter and ofcourse the speed, all very exciting and involving.
These modern GT car and older 996/997 gt cars are dead below 5.5k revs. Peak torque in my GT3 is I think over 6k revs !!! You have to change gear at >8k to drop you back in the true power band.
And I'm not a liar
MannyLon said:
Miss quoting to justify when people differ to your strong opinions
I said I was happy for you, it matters not if it's 5k or 5.3k revs :-) I am really happy you find full enjoyment from your car and it’s 100% perfect in every way.
I envy that as after 80 odd cars and thousands of ££££ over 35 years I am yet to find perfection. And my journey is still on going.
One day I,ll do a project and build something More bespoke.
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