Life after a 911 GT3

[Shaoxter]

I have owned and loved several 911s, but I feel the time has come to own a proper supercar (mid life crisis perhaps...?)

I'm looking around the £100k mark, however most things around this price point (360, 430, Gallardo, McLarens) seem to be ruinously expensive to run and/or are fragile, and one of the things I love about GT3s is that you can service it every 2 years, pound it round tracks and nothing will break.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or want to talk me into their supercar of choice?

[RDMcG]

Sadly no suggestions as I have the same needs 2x GT3RS that can be hammered all day and do not break. Next car is a 992 RS.
I love the idea of a true supercar but I need something bulletproof that I have total confidence in. I do know a lot of people with McLarens (mainly former Porsche owners) and they all seem to swear by them.

[CloudStuff]

Shaoxter said:

I have owned and loved several 911s, but I feel the time has come to own a proper supercar (mid life crisis perhaps...?)

I'm looking around the £100k mark, however most things around this price point (360, 430, Gallardo, McLarens) seem to be ruinously expensive to run and/or are fragile, and one of the things I love about GT3s is that you can service it every 2 years, pound it round tracks and nothing will break.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or want to talk me into their supercar of choice?

I’ve gone for an Audi S1. It’s a giggle - use of power available matches the speeds you can sensibly do.

After the GT3, nothing could compare.

20k car. Bargain.

[Bispal]

I have owned 2 McLarens, a 12C and 675LT, both with full warranty. Although expensive at £5k pa in 6 years & 22k miles of ownership I have never paid a single penny over and above this with both cars other than servicing, around £1k a year.

At £100k my preference would be a 650s which you should have enough change from £100k to pay for 2 years worry free warranty.

Or if you prefer a 570S at £80k and £3k pa warranty and £1k servicing would give you 5 years worry free motoring with your £100k budget.

McLarens make a lot of sense as they are generally cheaper than Ferrari's and you can use those savings towards warranty and running costs.

Good luck with your search.

[ANOpax]

Marginal call on it being a supercar but if bullet proof reliability is a requirement then a V12 Vantage has the reliability, looks and drama. They start at £80k so plenty of choice within your budget.

It’ll also charm you with its small footprint which is another thing which Porsche is good at. However, steering and suspension isn’t a patch on Porsche but you won’t be buying it for that; you’ll be buying it for the stonking V12.

Edited by ANOpax on Friday 4th November 18:34

[Davyt]

CloudStuff said:

I’ve gone for an Audi S1. It’s a giggle - use of power available matches the speeds you can sensibly do.

After the GT3, nothing could compare.

20k car. Bargain.

If only a S1 would satisfy, would save us all a fortune ..

[200Plus Club]

Bispal said:

I have owned 2 McLarens, a 12C and 675LT, both with full warranty. Although expensive at £5k pa in 6 years & 22k miles of ownership I have never paid a single penny over and above this with both cars other than servicing, around £1k a year.

At £100k my preference would be a 650s which you should have enough change from £100k to pay for 2 years worry free warranty.

Or if you prefer a 570S at £80k and £3k pa warranty and £1k servicing would give you 5 years worry free motoring with your £100k budget.

McLarens make a lot of sense as they are generally cheaper than Ferrari's and you can use those savings towards warranty and running costs.

Good luck with your search.

£5k pa x 6 yrs is an awful lot of money spent insuring your McLarens against failure surely in addition to servicing?

[Shaoxter]

Bispal said:

At £100k my preference would be a 650s which you should have enough change from £100k to pay for 2 years worry free warranty.

I think they're on the top of my shortlist at the moment, warranty is the price of entry I guess but at least it appears to be totally comprehensive. Only thing putting me off is the noise (or rather lack thereof).

[anonymous-user]

Shaoxter said:

I have owned and loved several 911s, but I feel the time has come to own a proper supercar (mid life crisis perhaps...?)

I'm looking around the £100k mark, however most things around this price point (360, 430, Gallardo, McLarens) seem to be ruinously expensive to run and/or are fragile, and one of the things I love about GT3s is that you can service it every 2 years, pound it round tracks and nothing will break.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or want to talk me into their supercar of choice?

If you’re really after something with the supercar label that’s not going to generate a pub argument over whether it really is, I’d say of those a McLaren is the only choice.

But really: what do you want from your next car? Having a particular label as the main thing seems a bit implausible for someone who has had something that is as driver-focussed as a GT3. For example, is wanting to track it a factor?

The only three others I can think of to add to your list are a 911 turbo (another 911!), an R8 V10 (see “pub argument” above) and a V12 Vantage S (which sits in a space between a grand tourer and a sports car).

I went down this self same path. The 360, 430 and Gallardo were ruled out as a bit too old. A 12C was high on the final list but reliability scared me off. Porsches I find a bit soulless and functional - they never get under my skin. A V10 R8 I’d have had for the engine alone, but once it came to engines I ended up with the V12VS. It’s quite “analogue”, it needs driver focus when pushing on, and it’s nowhere near as sophisticated as a GT3/McLaren. And isn’t track focussed at all. But it’s a great place to be, sounds awesome, can shift, and I always turn round after I’ve parked it.

[SagMan]

From suggestions so far, the Aston V12 actually is a great choice . That will feel special and I would personally go manual, suits the car

[RSbandit]

V12VS is a special car alright that engine is something else, loved the ownership experience when I had mine however McLaren on a diff planet technically and dynamically. There was a thread on here where the OP moved from a GT3 RS to a 600LT and felt the latter was the superior car..prob not a total surprise given the McLaren had a much higher RRP new but now they’re broadly a similar price in used mkt. I’ve tried buying Porsches before but I always ended up going for something else, can appreciate them at a technical level but too ubiquitous and not special enough in most cases …and the bucket seats are much too upright.
At £100k a 650S Spider is hard to argue against just budget for a couple of yrs warranty, sure that’s £10k but when you consider what you’re getting seems fair enough to me. I had a 12c Spider go by me at full chat once and trust me it sounded awesome under load.

[av185]

If cheap running costs therefore proper manufacturers warranty and a new(ish) contemporary drivers car is your bag a 718 GT4 is worth a look. No hangups on the usual eyewatering running costs and bork factors associated with the dated older stuff the performance of which is also questionable.

Ok not a supercar as such but great looks and performance always receives the right kind of attention and a bespoke and sophisticated 8k rev limit and economical proper Porsche GT engine mated to a perfectly balanced manual gearbox as good as the 991.2 GT3 means performance is not far away from the GT3 and very similar for real world road driving especially as the chassis is virtually pure GT3 unlike the 981.

With the Cayman EV due 2025 and imminent cessation of production a sure fire last of the line blue chip ICE classic is guaranteed especially bearing in mind 7 year old 981 GT4s at 25k miles are still selling at over list ££ so residually bomb proof too.

[Mr Moley]

I've owned a few if the cars discussed so far and whilst I think they're all fab in their own way you won't get what you want from them coming from a GT3 if you want to track them

I haven't ever owned a McLaren but have driven a few and I think the 570S is probably the best bet of the cars listed for your use

[GTRene]

not a supercar, but a Porsche 718 Spyder is faster then a GT4 even on a circuit...

I'm also keeping an eye on them, although I best want a road tax free sport car (classic), because I only drive about 1.000km a year... thats km not miles.

I thought what? but seems true, see fastestlaps.com

so maybe best of both worlds? the roof is better then the 981 spyder, but still not like the say boxster 4.0 but the extra drama = also a bit supercar.

0 - 60 kph 2.0 s
0 - 80 kph 2.8 s
0 - 100 kph 3.8 s
0 - 120 kph 4.9 s
0 - 130 kph 6.5 s
0 - 140 kph 6.3 s
0 - 160 kph 8.0 s
0 - 180 kph 9.8 s
0 - 200 kph 12.1 s


https://fastestlaps.com/models/porsche-718-spyder

[fridaypassion]

Get a McLaren you'll regret the rates years in the Porsche stuff that's the only downside. I had a 991.1RS. yawnfest. Replaced it with a 600LT which is twice the car for less money. The 570 is not far off the 600 really but both are far far better than the boring GT cars. Warranty is more but your using supercar vs sportscar.

[mwstewart]

Is the car for road use, or track days?

[av185]

GTRene said:

not a supercar, but a Porsche 718 Spyder is faster then a GT4 even on a circuit...

That link you gave clearly shows they aren't.

Moreover the main problem with the 718 Spyder v GT4 is the noise generated by the hood of the Spyder which drowns out the all important variable intake sound from the engine.

[Shaoxter]

mwstewart said:

Is the car for road use, or track days?

80% road and 20% track I'd say, I do around 5 track days a year and maybe a Ring trip.

BlackWidow13 said:

But really: what do you want from your next car? Having a particular label as the main thing seems a bit implausible for someone who has had something that is as driver-focussed as a GT3. For example, is wanting to track it a factor?

Honestly, it's just an itch I feel like scratching. The 991.1 GT3 does everything I want and there's no logical reason why I should switch to anything else but I've always dreamt of a "proper" supercar. And for that reason something like a V12V or R8 aren't quite going to cut it.

[anonymous-user]

Shaoxter said:

Honestly, it's just an itch I feel like scratching. The 991.1 GT3 does everything I want and there's no logical reason why I should switch to anything else but I've always dreamt of a "proper" supercar. And for that reason something like a V12V or R8 aren't quite going to cut it.

Completely understand.

A McLaren is calling out to you…

[Freakuk]

I'm not in this position but I know a few people who have had/current have McLaren's and the horror stories they have/are experiencing I wouldn't recommend touching them with the proverbial barge pole.

Seemingly having a warranty doesn't cover anything, one recent experience was air con failing, pipe corroded, not covered under warranty, about £1200 to replace as an example.