997 GT3 gen 1 or R8 ?

[phunkyphantom]

I currently run a 2006 Vantage daily for the last 2 years and looking for a change!

Just put my 2008 997 c2s cab which I share with the wife up for sale.

I love driving both the vantage and the c2s for very different reasons but looking for a change.

I'm not against having a "tough" daily so don't mind the ride on the GT3, haven't driven either yet.

Budget is £50-60k so looking at 2008/2009 R8s or 2007 ish Gen1 GT3.

Any thoughts, opinions or previous experiences of either?

cheers in advance!

[911god]

phunkyphantom said:

I currently run a 2006 Vantage daily for the last 2 years and looking for a change!

Just put my 2008 997 c2s cab which I share with the wife up for sale.

I love driving both the vantage and the c2s for very different reasons but looking for a change.

I'm not against having a "tough" daily so don't mind the ride on the GT3, haven't driven either yet.

Budget is £50-60k so looking at 2008/2009 R8s or 2007 ish Gen1 GT3.

Any thoughts, opinions or previous experiences of either?

cheers in advance!

This topic been done recently. On the Porsche forum the gt3 always gonna get the vote. I've driven an r8 and they look great but the gt3 is more of an event .

[Carl_Docklands]

I don't think the answer you seek is on here mate, get out there and wring a GT3 (in a nice way).

[Trev450]

911god said:

This topic been done recently. On the Porsche forum the gt3 always gonna get the vote. I've driven an r8 and they look great but the gt3 is more of an event .

Here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Gibbo205]

Hi there

If your thinking R8, then surely the Porsche you should be look at would be C2S or C4S? Those are competitors to the R8 and are also quicker too.

A GT3 is a far more focused car and will absolutely destroy an R8, particular on track where they are at home.

[Dblue]

A little bit apples and pears this one.
The R8 is much more refined, easy to get in to/out of, has all the toys and big comfy chairs. Looks like a genuine supercar and will get looked at a load more than a GT3. But its also a truly brilliant drivers car. Seriously good and has a Carrera of similar age beaten although that same C2S is now quite a bit cheaper (And a little faster)
GT3 is much more focussed drivers tool. Fizzing with feel, tactile controls and just a brilliant, brilliant motor. Much better than the slightly out of place V8 in the Audi. Its a woofly, throbbing kind of engine, high revving but more at home in an RS4, and its only just fast enough.
The GT3 has a pretty unyielding ride even in comfort mode and grounds its splitter everywhere but with sports seats its quite useable. Very heavy clutch though if you have a lot of traffic to negotiate..
To be honest I think a GT3 is just too much as a DD. Got to be pretty committed petrolhead to use it like that

[NBTBRV8]

Dblue said:

A little bit apples and pears this one.
The R8 is much more refined, easy to get in to/out of, has all the toys and big comfy chairs. Looks like a genuine supercar and will get looked at a load more than a GT3. But its also a truly brilliant drivers car. Seriously good and has a Carrera of similar age beaten although that same C2S is now quite a bit cheaper (And a little faster)
GT3 is much more focussed drivers tool. Fizzing with feel, tactile controls and just a brilliant, brilliant motor. Much better than the slightly out of place V8 in the Audi. Its a woofly, throbbing kind of engine, high revving but more at home in an RS4, and its only just fast enough.
The GT3 has a pretty unyielding ride even in comfort mode and grounds its splitter everywhere but with sports seats its quite useable. Very heavy clutch though if you have a lot of traffic to negotiate..
To be honest I think a GT3 is just too much as a DD. Got to be pretty committed petrolhead to use it like that

I've been thinking about a GT3 a bit lately and I drove a GT3 on the highway for about 45 minutes and found the ride totally acceptable, no where near as harsh as I thought. The downsides as a DD for me was the heavy clutch and the short notchy gear change. If the clutch issue became too much to bear I suspect that you could change the set up to be the same as a 997t with an accumilator to give a lighter pedal.

[Dblue]

NBTBRV8 said:

Dblue said:

A little bit apples and pears this one.
The R8 is much more refined, easy to get in to/out of, has all the toys and big comfy chairs. Looks like a genuine supercar and will get looked at a load more than a GT3. But its also a truly brilliant drivers car. Seriously good and has a Carrera of similar age beaten although that same C2S is now quite a bit cheaper (And a little faster)
GT3 is much more focussed drivers tool. Fizzing with feel, tactile controls and just a brilliant, brilliant motor. Much better than the slightly out of place V8 in the Audi. Its a woofly, throbbing kind of engine, high revving but more at home in an RS4, and its only just fast enough.
The GT3 has a pretty unyielding ride even in comfort mode and grounds its splitter everywhere but with sports seats its quite useable. Very heavy clutch though if you have a lot of traffic to negotiate..
To be honest I think a GT3 is just too much as a DD. Got to be pretty committed petrolhead to use it like that

I've been thinking about a GT3 a bit lately and I drove a GT3 on the highway for about 45 minutes and found the ride totally acceptable, no where near as harsh as I thought. The downsides as a DD for me was the heavy clutch and the short notchy gear change. If the clutch issue became too much to bear I suspect that you could change the set up to be the same as a 997t with an accumilator to give a lighter pedal.

Well maybe, but its a lot of trouble. If its going to be stuck in traffic a lot go for something else.
The ride is OK for me but pretty firm. Main issue is grounding the splitter.
The gearchange is stiff and notchy if you are gentle with it but is brilliant when you are positive and
comes alive. Its a car thats optimised for being driven purposefully and is capable of magic because of it.
Just so happens its also bulletproof, amazingly cheap to run (Tyres excepted) and holds its money

[phunkyphantom]

Thanks for all the comments, I did mention above that I've just put the 2008 997 c2s cab up for sale which I love driving and still currently using the vantage as the daily so think I'd get on ok with the gt3 as a daily.

Has anyone gone from a vantage to gt3 or from R8 to gt3 or the other way round?

I know I need to go and drive both, I enjoy the vantage for being 'special' and the c2s for the drive, wondering if the gt3 will give me both. Sounds like the novelty of the r8 won't last long.

[Raitzi]

Gibbo205 said:

Those are competitors to the R8 and are also quicker too.

I think he was talking about 997 models which are not quicker than R8 (at least round a track)

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Had my first proper look around an R8 last week actually & I certainly think its a lovely car.

This will sound poxy but the one thing that I didn't like was the lack of storage space in the car.

Euro tours would be a pain.

[Slippydiff]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

The one thing that I didn't like was the lack of storage space in the car.

Euro tours would be a pain

I considered going down the Gallardo route earlier this year, It suffers from the same problem, but far worse.

[MadMark911]

I've driven an R8, owned a 997 C2S and now have a 997 GT3 and whilst all have their merits, for me the GT3 delivers the most "smiles". The R8 is almost too competent for it's own good.

The R8 would be the better car over long distances, the GT3 the best when you're in the mood to play, but I'm not sure I would drive my GT3 every day .... and just remember that if it's a GenI GT3 - there is no stability control safety net to save you!

[Dblue]

Slippydiff said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

The one thing that I didn't like was the lack of storage space in the car.

Euro tours would be a pain

I considered going down the Gallardo route earlier this year, It suffers from the same problem, but far worse.

+1
The Spyder is even worse, not even the space behind the seats available.
Still, for a weekend toy its a wonderful thing,just have to send on your toothbrush ahead with the staff :-)

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Dblue said:

Slippydiff said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

The one thing that I didn't like was the lack of storage space in the car.

Euro tours would be a pain

I considered going down the Gallardo route earlier this year, It suffers from the same problem, but far worse.

+1
The Spyder is even worse, not even the space behind the seats available.
Still, for a weekend toy its a wonderful thing,just have to send on your toothbrush ahead with the staff :-)

Its pretty sad that I've gone off such a wonderful car due to the luggage space, & this from a guy who bought a mk3 mr2 spyder! But now I've taken the other half on a proper eurohoon & she enjoyed it, it simply must be a consideration.

I honestly think its a tough choice between a gt3, an R8 & a V8 vantage for this kind of thing, perhaps 997turbo would be a good call as well?

[V8KSN]

MadMark911 said:

... and just remember that if it's a GenI GT3 - there is no stability control safety net to save you!

Please excuse my ignorance on this but does the Gen 1 GT3 only have traction control and not PSM?

[Magic919]

Yes. PSM came with the 997.2 GT3.

[V8KSN]

Magic919 said:

Yes. PSM came with the 997.2 GT3.

Thats strange Any reason it didn't appear on the series 1?

[Magic919]

Because it is ghay and has no place on a GT Porsche, perhaps?

[RDMcG]

The gen 1 GT3 was the last road Porsche with no stability control as I recall. Caused by a lawsuit in CA (of course). Guy went to a track day with his Carrere GT ,crashed killing himself and passenger. His own fault, no mechanical. Porsche held liable for contributory negligence as the "should have known" that powerful cars needed SC. Set a precedent.
I hsve had a Gen 1 RS for five years now. I have also extensively driven an R8 and I echo what others have said. The GT3 is more of a pure play petrolhead car, a sort of bigger more civilized Caterham. The R8 is very easy to drive,much more refined,but I personally found it a bit boring. Looks great,though.