Which one: 997.1 GT3, 997.1 GT3 RS or 997.2 GT3?
Discussion
I'm currently giving serious consideration to purchasing a 997 GT3 and am interested in hearing your views. Do I spend circa £70-80k on an RS or a gen 11, or save myself around £10k and purchase a straight gen 1.
The car will be a second vehicle and will be used equally between track and road.
Which one is likely to be the most rewarding?
The car will be a second vehicle and will be used equally between track and road.
Which one is likely to be the most rewarding?
mrdemon said:
The key word you quoted was "rewarding" and that's why a lot of people buy the 996RS a race car for the road where as 997's are more road cars you can track.
Whilst I hear what's being said about 997.1 GT3s being more akin to a road car that you can track, all marks of GT3 surely offer a level of driver feedback, involvement and track ability that will readily satisfy the needs of 99% of enthusiasts out there? There are however always those that need to know they own the ultimate incarnation of a particular model or have the biggest spoiler for maximum car park kudos though :-)With my budget, like yours, I could have had a Gen 1 RS but instead I preferred to move my 997.1 GT3 on (an awesome car in its own right) for the more modern look, feel and torque offered by my current Gen 2 GT3.
I decided that I had no requirement for a dedicated trackday car anymore, nor did I crave for the even more extrovert styling, or incremental improvement on abilty, that an RS would offer (good job really as I couldn't afford a Gen 2 RS).
If I do 2 trackdays a year, or an annual trip to the Ring, that's about as much track time as I envisage. I have since fitted Michelin PS2s all round as it made no sense to run track day tyres on a car which spends more time on the road in all weathers. If you envisage loads of track time in your GT3, your money might be better spent on a 997.1 GT3 Clubsport with A1 geometry and fresh Pilot Cups all round? Track time isn't cheap after all!
Thankfully I spent my time getting (most of) my trackday thrills out of a 205 GTI Pug and latterly a Megane R26.R (fantastic car BTW), which were both significantly cheaper to run/at worst bin on a track. I've known more friends crash GT3/GT3 RSs at the Ring and Spa than any other type/make of car! The talent of most drivers (self included here) is not at a level to fully exploit these cars to their full potential without incident I would argue. When I do want to take my car on a track though, I know it will feel totally at home and (providing I don't crash it) it will drive home perfectly without a hint of a vibrating brake pedal or grumble from the brakes.
Put simply, I didn't want an RS badly enough and nor was I prepared to let future residuals affect my buying decision. Instead I bought a unique 997.2 GT3 which I am over the moon with.
The performance of these cars 996/997, RS or vanilla, is truly phenomenal. Whatever you end up buying it will be a very special car so enjoy it :-)
Personal bias aside, I had a similar budget choice that could also have stretched to a 997.2 RS. I test drove a few and ended up buying a 996 RS as it optimised on a number of factors - driving thrill and feedback, rarity, sense of occasion (ok not an italian but in Porsche terms its a loud RS), affordability, smallest financial downside risk (there was always slightly more in the other variants)....there are strange Internet myths about road ability of the 996 RS - they are absolutely fine for Sunday use and depending on geo can be easier than more focused set up non RSs - perhaps not ideal for daily driving
Having said that any GT3 variant is a great choice.
Having said that any GT3 variant is a great choice.
Edited by puntograle on Tuesday 12th June 21:19
Trev450 said:
being somewhat short in stature (5' 5") I'm wondering how I'll get on with the fixed seats.
Yeah, might be worth looking at 'comfort' (non-buckets) cars then. Otherwise you'll be needing to get yourself down to Mothercare for a 'fitting'. Edited by Phooey on Tuesday 12th June 20:06
ttdan said:
Phooey said:
Don't think you can do that on the gen2? Anyways, 20mm will only get his eye-line level with the indicator stalk, at best
Fixed buckets are the same seats on gen 1 and gen 2. So i am sure you can, there are two bolt hole options to attachthe seat to the subframe.If your using it for Sundays and trackdays, gen1 RS IMO, if its primarily a road car a gen2 GT3 is a "better" car.
The gen1 GT3 is all the car you'll need though but its not quite so special as the RS. Subtle differences but if you can afford it, I would myself
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