P-track

Gentlemen,

Currently a 993 owner and would appreciate some tips on this Gt3 I have been offered

2003 GT3 Clubsport, german car, FSH. The service history is very solid with no expense spared but, and here is the catch, it has got 110K miles. The first owner used it as a daily driver commuting on the Autobahn every day and accumulating 20.000 miles per year for 4 years ( in a clubsport, crazy germans:reckon.

Gearbox was rebuilt 20K miles ago. Engine untouched but dyno showed 390+ BHP last year. Service history is immaculate with every year a full service including oil and gearbox flush.

It has been tracked occasionally on track days and the owner informed me that it had some repair work done at the front where some panels were replaced. No further info on the damage is available. But, both the Porsche dealer and an independent and GT3 experienced specialist were unable to see what was done.

So as I am still learning about the GT3 I would appreciate some advice:

Would a leak down test reveal if a top end is required soon?
100 K miles on an air-cooled engines means it just starts to warm up, how about the Gt3 engines and reliability with higher mileage?
I have requested a Rev limit report, any more things I should check that are GT3 specific?

Thanks for all replies guys!

edgy

It seems for the most part you've dotted your I's and crossed your T's.

If your serious, have a comp and leak-down test done on it... I think that and the DME report is as far as you can go without opening it? These motors are not cheap to rebuild so you want to be sure its still good.

My one has higher miles as far as a GT3 goes (not that high though) for many of the same reasons the car you are looking at does, as we know street miles are generally a lot easier on the car then track miles.

tcsracing1

110k miles on a GT3 is totally acceptable. Especially highway. Track miles would be different.

The GT3 is expected to see long life just as the aircooled 250k plus.

Igooz

German Autobahn duty cycle is not even close to the N. American highway duty cycle...

The duty cycle on the autobahn can be extremely tough. You enter the autobahn, and accelerate like he*l, and then you can run high, sustainable road (&rpm) speeds.
I am not sure how this gentleman operated this car, but having bought new cars and lived in Germany I can tell you that I would be very cautious...further, they salt / chemicals their roads, so look for corrosion.

Why this particular car?

P-track

The history of this car is very interesting, will explain when bought or when the deal falls through.

Below is the rev range, what do you guys reckon?

Spyerx

Does the car have a tune? Generally range 1-2 are not an issue, but someone's been flogging this up to and bouncing off the rev limiter pretty hard. Nothing above range 2 ??

P-track

Well slowly I am coming to the conclusion that the "occasional track day" is somewhat of an understatement. According to the 3rd owner it was tracked often during the 1,5 years prior to his ownership. This coincides with the rev 2 limit hours counter.

With this in mind it would not surprise me if it was tuned.

Marv

I sold my 993 for GT3 almost 8 years ago and have almost 100K daily driven miles on it still delivers in spades.

Like any car, get a good pre-purchase inspection. A leak down may not be a bad option, but you will spend some money as getting to everything is a little more complex, but worth the expense in my mind.

One weak spot are the coolant line fittings. The OEM parts are epoxied in. They need to be replaced with aftermarket ones and welded in place. Not cheap...

If this has not been done expect to drop the motor and get it done. Cost varies between $3K to $4K. My friend's Turbo just spilled it juices all over the road.

Otherwise the engine and trans are very robust.

Evolved Rs

There are two rev ranges for the 996 cars. Range 2 are mechanical over revs.

KOAN

A few thoughts:

On a 996GT3, Type 1 over revs are unimportant. It is interesting that the most recent one was in the last hour the car was driven. The relatively high # of Type 2 over revs this car shows are 1200 hrs old. So, they apparently did not do any damage.

The shocks must be shot by now, and I would have the LSD checked as well. I'd check the transmission mounts, as they seem to dry out and crack. The hoses should all be replaced. As was mentioned above, the coolant hoses should either be welded or pinned. (The hoses can be replaced at the same time.)

Check suspension bushings. They are probably dried out and a little loose...even with highway miles.

turbofever

i would love to see pics of the gt3

pranqster

I would be concerned if the oil was not changed approximately 2 to 3 times per year. The type 2 revs are high, but because it was so long ago, it apparently did not affect the engine. The maintenance records are very key here, and I would definitely do a leak down and compression test. Make sure that the shop knows how to do the tests correctly.

P-track

Thanks for all your info. I decided to walk away from this one.

I truly believe this car could be a nice user GT3 but I am looking for a more solid car in tems of mileage and accident history.

The current owner is very open about the history and cooperative. below is the link to the ad if anyone is interested:

http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat...eatures=EXPORT

LaSource

imv, that is a LOT of type 2 mech overrevs. Even though they were a long time ago and the engine seems safe. I am usually not bothered about these as they do get people over excited whereas the engines are strong as oxen. However, in this case it does point to either the car being driven very roughly or it having some kind of tune to explain the high revs.

Either way not a gently driven car.

vilfredo

Understood that you ran away from this one. Mileage could have indeed been lower.

Yet, I wouldn't refrain from buying a car with a high number of Autobahn kilometers at all. Living in Germany, I will confess that cars/engines get properly used here, and high cruising speeds can be normal (I just did 320+ miles door-to-door in 3:10 with a BMW last night, all within legal boundaries). However, this is ususally not a problem and much easier to digest for the powertrains than city stop-and-go or track usage.

So, as long as the service history is complete, go for it. (needless to say I'd welcome another GT3 driver).

Marcus