Picked up my GT3 today! First Impressions (over 700 miles in 1 day)
07-27-2014, 01:56 PM
#61
Pro
Thread Starter
I have recently seen two F430s at local track days.
First was a red one driven by a lady. Her boyfriend bought the car and sent her to the event by herself. She was paired with a very nice and calm female instructor. She refused to let the instructor drive even on a 60mph sighting lap (with pace car, no helmet required). During sessions one and two she drove at 70mph or less, had difficulty with the line and with coordinating passing (point bys). She left after her second of four sessions.
Second was a silver one driven by a middle aged gentleman, he was already cleared for solo with this club. He drove faster than the red one on the straights, but very slow in the corners. On track he seemed safe and courteous. After his second session he stopped by my trailer and told one of my buddies that he felt a point by was warranted a few times during the session. We were very nice to him, but our spotters later revealed that he was never within 10 car lenghts.
I think the number of folks that buy Ferrari's AND track them hard is very few.
Ryan
First was a red one driven by a lady. Her boyfriend bought the car and sent her to the event by herself. She was paired with a very nice and calm female instructor. She refused to let the instructor drive even on a 60mph sighting lap (with pace car, no helmet required). During sessions one and two she drove at 70mph or less, had difficulty with the line and with coordinating passing (point bys). She left after her second of four sessions.
Second was a silver one driven by a middle aged gentleman, he was already cleared for solo with this club. He drove faster than the red one on the straights, but very slow in the corners. On track he seemed safe and courteous. After his second session he stopped by my trailer and told one of my buddies that he felt a point by was warranted a few times during the session. We were very nice to him, but our spotters later revealed that he was never within 10 car lenghts.
I think the number of folks that buy Ferrari's AND track them hard is very few.
Ryan
07-30-2014, 06:07 PM
#67
Congrats! I picked up mine 2 weeks ago. Same color combo as you. Have you tried making a U-turn? I'm amazed at how fast you can make a U-turn with rear wheel steering. lol. Enjoy!
07-31-2014, 08:42 PM
#68
Three Wheelin'
Picked up the car today. I'm a Cat B so this is the first time I've seen my car, although I drove one at the Porsche UK Experience Centre at the beginning of the year. My reference points are my previous car, which was a 997.2 C2S and the loaner Boxster (not S).
Looks wise it's pretty awesome although a bit ostentatious to my taste. The whiteness and huge wing make it stand out and I get a lot of looks and people taking photos of it when I park up. I feel a bit self-conscious with all this but I felt the same at the start with the other two cars and got used to it fairly quickly.
Driving it is something else. I'm rarely going over 5,000 rpm during the break in but it feels special even at low speeds. Heck it feels special at a standstill. The whole car just feels so solid, responsive and precise. Sadly I don't get the steering feel I got in the 997.2. That plus the auto box gives the car a different character. The 997.2 was an unbeatable combination of traditional sports car feel but with virtually no usability compromises. The GT3 is an unbeatable combination of track car and road car, with incredible performance for each. I absolutely love it but still like the idea of the 997.2 but I tend to like cars more with time. I hated the loaner Boxster to start with. Compared to 997.2 it was slow, had dead steering, only two seats and an unresponsive auto gearbox. But after 4 months I was loving it for its drop top and neutral handling balance. I even like the way the PDK encourages me to keep the engine at high revs when really going for it.
I suspect it will be the same with the GT3. The engine is way better than the 997.2. It's way faster and more agile. The handling is fantastic. When I get to use the full rev range - I'm sure I will find that going to 9,000 is the defining characteristic of the car. It's why you buy it.
The steering feel, while not as good as the 997.2, is better than the Boxster loaner. The steel brakes squeak a bit. Not sure if that's to do with the rain today. The back stepped out a bit on a wet roundabout while really not going very fast at all. This is going to be fun! The wing renders the rear-view mirror pretty useless. It seems I check it subconsciously every few seconds so I am training myself to use the wing mirrors. I'm also forcing myself to use manual mode when it's just so easy to go lazy auto.
More updates to follow and hopefully pics and videos if the iPad or iPhone app ever gets fixed.
Looks wise it's pretty awesome although a bit ostentatious to my taste. The whiteness and huge wing make it stand out and I get a lot of looks and people taking photos of it when I park up. I feel a bit self-conscious with all this but I felt the same at the start with the other two cars and got used to it fairly quickly.
Driving it is something else. I'm rarely going over 5,000 rpm during the break in but it feels special even at low speeds. Heck it feels special at a standstill. The whole car just feels so solid, responsive and precise. Sadly I don't get the steering feel I got in the 997.2. That plus the auto box gives the car a different character. The 997.2 was an unbeatable combination of traditional sports car feel but with virtually no usability compromises. The GT3 is an unbeatable combination of track car and road car, with incredible performance for each. I absolutely love it but still like the idea of the 997.2 but I tend to like cars more with time. I hated the loaner Boxster to start with. Compared to 997.2 it was slow, had dead steering, only two seats and an unresponsive auto gearbox. But after 4 months I was loving it for its drop top and neutral handling balance. I even like the way the PDK encourages me to keep the engine at high revs when really going for it.
I suspect it will be the same with the GT3. The engine is way better than the 997.2. It's way faster and more agile. The handling is fantastic. When I get to use the full rev range - I'm sure I will find that going to 9,000 is the defining characteristic of the car. It's why you buy it.
The steering feel, while not as good as the 997.2, is better than the Boxster loaner. The steel brakes squeak a bit. Not sure if that's to do with the rain today. The back stepped out a bit on a wet roundabout while really not going very fast at all. This is going to be fun! The wing renders the rear-view mirror pretty useless. It seems I check it subconsciously every few seconds so I am training myself to use the wing mirrors. I'm also forcing myself to use manual mode when it's just so easy to go lazy auto.
More updates to follow and hopefully pics and videos if the iPad or iPhone app ever gets fixed.
07-31-2014, 08:51 PM
#69
Picked up the car today. I'm a Cat B so this is the first time I've seen my car, although I drove one at the Porsche UK Experience Centre at the beginning of the year. My reference points are my previous car, which was a 997.2 C2S and the loaner Boxster (not S). Looks wise it's pretty awesome although a bit ostentatious to my taste. The whiteness and huge wing make it stand out and I get a lot of looks and people taking photos of it when I park up. I feel a bit self-conscious with all this but I felt the same at the start with the other two cars and got used to it fairly quickly. Driving it is something else. I'm rarely going over 5,000 rpm during the break in but it feels special even at low speeds. Heck it feels special at a standstill. The whole car just feels so solid, responsive and precise. Sadly I don't get the steering feel I got in the 997.2. That plus the auto box gives the car a different character. The 997.2 was an unbeatable combination of traditional sports car feel but with virtually no usability compromises. The GT3 is an unbeatable combination of track car and road car, with incredible performance for each. I absolutely love it but still like the idea of the 997.2 but I tend to like cars more with time. I hated the loaner Boxster to start with. Compared to 997.2 it was slow, had dead steering, only two seats and an unresponsive auto gearbox. But after 4 months I was loving it for its drop top and neutral handling balance. I even like the way the PDK encourages me to keep the engine at high revs when really going for it. I suspect it will be the same with the GT3. The engine is way better than the 997.2. It's way faster and more agile. The handling is fantastic. When I get to use the full rev range - I'm sure I will find that going to 9,000 is the defining characteristic of the car. It's why you buy it. The steering feel, while not as good as the 997.2, is better than the Boxster loaner. The steel brakes squeak a bit. Not sure if that's to do with the rain today. The back stepped out a bit on a wet roundabout while really not going very fast at all. This is going to be fun! The wing renders the rear-view mirror pretty useless. It seems I check it subconsciously every few seconds so I am training myself to use the wing mirrors. I'm also forcing myself to use manual mode when it's just so easy to go lazy auto. More updates to follow and hopefully pics and videos if the iPad or iPhone app ever gets fixed.
07-31-2014, 08:52 PM
#70
Three Wheelin'
Colour: very happy with white but obviously this is subjective
Wheels: platinum the best with pretty much every colour
Brakes: wish I had ordered the PCCBs. Partly for bling but also I have nagging doubt about them giving better steering feel
Leather: the leather in my loaner Boxter made it look like a more expensive car inside than my GT3, which costs twice the price
Any other leather bits: absolutely unnecessary
Lifter: have been over loads of speed bumps and I haven't need the lifter yet. I used it on some to test it out and the car makes an awful clonk as it goes over the bumps while lifted and no noise on same bumps with lifter lowered. It sounds like the suspension is bottoming out but it might not be that. This is at 10 mph. Going slower than that and it is fine. So overall jury is out on this one.
PCM and sound upgrade - you pretty much need it for road driving
Mobile prep: ditto
DAB: FFS wish I had ordered the DAB radio. Don't forget it!!!
Rain sensor for wipers: love it - no regrets
Cruise control: do I really need this?
Regular seats: happy with this choice as they're roughly as I would have adjusted the 18-ways to anyway. Don't want buckets as they don't recline
Wheels: platinum the best with pretty much every colour
Brakes: wish I had ordered the PCCBs. Partly for bling but also I have nagging doubt about them giving better steering feel
Leather: the leather in my loaner Boxter made it look like a more expensive car inside than my GT3, which costs twice the price
Any other leather bits: absolutely unnecessary
Lifter: have been over loads of speed bumps and I haven't need the lifter yet. I used it on some to test it out and the car makes an awful clonk as it goes over the bumps while lifted and no noise on same bumps with lifter lowered. It sounds like the suspension is bottoming out but it might not be that. This is at 10 mph. Going slower than that and it is fine. So overall jury is out on this one.
PCM and sound upgrade - you pretty much need it for road driving
Mobile prep: ditto
DAB: FFS wish I had ordered the DAB radio. Don't forget it!!!
Rain sensor for wipers: love it - no regrets
Cruise control: do I really need this?
Regular seats: happy with this choice as they're roughly as I would have adjusted the 18-ways to anyway. Don't want buckets as they don't recline
08-01-2014, 01:10 AM
#71
Racer
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: edmonton, alberta, canada
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