feb 18

MY GT3 2018 manual first day impressions

This arrived today and I am a little unsure I have mixed feelings .

The car looks amazing, driving position and ergonomics are fantastic, the LWB seats are comfortable, I will get the adjusters for more rake .
100% need bolster protectors.
Started it up and I thought it lacked a bit of noise. I can see why people opt for a shark worx

Driving off I thought it's very compliant over bumps no different to my 997 Pdk turbo. Quite comfortable and not near as stiff as I thought . Considering this was to be a weekend only ca I was a bit disappointed as it could easily be a daily .
I also thought the gearing is too tall so bottom end torque is not that great, off the line it's not feeling at all a ballsy torque based engine.So around town it's an easy drive . I was hoping for a bit of a difficult car to drive with a heap of power , as in be careful with the power. Though really no need .

I would say the gears are to tall . when you get up in the rev range 1500 to 4000 equals nowhere . 5000-7000 is good torque from 7000 revs to 9000 the thing screams though lacks torque just screams , the down side is you are going too fast for the street. I found some back roads and gave it some and I found that the gears are a too tall , so 1st gear 100 kms second gear probably doing 160 kms per hour, so it's hard to use the motor wilth full range on the street .

Build quality is excellent and the car looks good.

My history with cars are mainly V8's or TT pDK so this one is not quite what I was expecting. It is a manual and the box is nice clutch is light and steering is good, direct . Car is planted .
Off tigh corners it will step out a bit .

Now I am of the belief warm the car up and then drive it so It been belted from 25kms on the clock . It free's up the engine. Car was too boring under 4000 revs.

Conclusion is , I need to spend more time in the car to make it work for me. So far I am a little disappointed however I can see why others love it. The cars looks fantastic and I love my options painted interior with full leather and LWB'a look fantasic

The final Conclusion Was I was not in love with it so I sold it after a week and ordered an AMG GTR

The car finally arrived today 10 month wait

I don’t know where to start , I’m in love !!
First impression is the stance, it looks wide and fat from front and rear .
The interior is actually a lovely finish with Alcantara gloss black centre consul with matte carbon , black leather with yellow stitch
The seat position for me is close to perfect I’m 6ft 4 and ordered bucket seats with yellow stitch
Start the car and the rumble is amazing, just fantastic.
The response to the pedal is instant with full torque at 1900 revs .
The most amazing thing for me was the turn in, for me it is more responsive than the GT3 . I think due to 4 wheel steer, car is quick to react and feels very nimble .
the build quality for me is Porsche good, I am really surprised . It’s a tank !!
The look of the matte silver and black wheels is also very pleasing.
When you push the go pedal while doing 20kms it’s instant and bloody fast. Turbo S fast.
It’s the car made for me . I love it and for value it speaks volumes . The back fire exhaust is addictive.
Then turn the car to comfort and it all slows down and is a really nice traffic cruiser .
This is the best car I have ever driven let alone owned . And this is all only on the way home from work in traffic .

this is the old one

Good luck with the AMG GTR. You have to go with what makes you happy. Bottom line.

I also have the AMG GTR and a .2GT3 manual.

I agree that the AMG GTR is much better than the GT3 on the street. I find the GT3 boring and uninspiring below 4500 RPMs.

I just had the magicians at DME come to my garage and tune my GTR. The car is an outright monster now and complete lunacy,
which is hard to imagine because stock it was great.

Congrats on the AMG GTR. Recently had a go in one and they are great cars. Totally different driving dynamics. Both are great in different ways.

I also agree the main issue with the GT3 was probably the absence of low end torque that you have become used to in the Turbo and the V8’s. I personally enjoy having to work to extract the power out of these cars vs always having it available but I completely understand that may not fit the bill for everyone.

The important thing is that you found the car that makes you happy! It’s an awesome time to be an automotive enthusiast and with so many different options available, there is something for everyone

Congrats on the GTR!
Sounds like you like torque and turbo so the Merc is for you. And you said it yourself “It is a tank!”
i would love to have both.

The AMG GT series of cars are one of the few FI platforms that I don’t mind. They sound great and lag is almost nonexistent.

However, for me nothing compares to the way the power builds in the GT3 and the 9k redline. But I am trying to convince the wife that she should swap for an AMG GTR once she gets tired of her TTRS lol