New 991 GT3 / Exclusive pics and information. The real deal & at last some good news!
04-20-2013, 03:36 AM
#1576
Shanghai? Oh well, there's the priority tier one customers. That silver looks bland in those digital flash pics. I wish they'd bring back Polar Silver Metallic, I could have quite the matching set.
04-20-2013, 06:12 AM
#1579
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There is nothing racy at all from that interior in the silver China car. All that crome stuff does not belong to a GT3. That's a regular 991/Panamera. We like a shift lever in alcantara, and even with PDK, make it look and feel like a track car not a car for shopping via GPS.
Will wait for the RS....totally stripped..maybe.
Will wait for the RS....totally stripped..maybe.
04-20-2013, 09:01 AM
#1580
Shanghai? Oh well, there's the priority tier one customers. That silver looks bland in those digital flash pics. I wish they'd bring back Polar Silver Metallic, I could have quite the matching set.
04-20-2013, 08:00 PM
#1584
do you have other pics of the silver car?
04-24-2013, 06:28 PM
#1586
Andreas Preuninger on the Porsche 991 GT3...
Andreas Preuninger on the Porsche 991 GT3...
-- ‘Shut up and drive’ says Porsche GT3 boss
Andreas Preuninger has a cold. Which might explain why the man in charge of Porsche’s GT cars is a little edgy at the moment...
Or it might be because his latest project, the GT3, has been met with skepticism and predictable groans.
But he’s used to this.
For the past 12 years and eight cars, Preuninger has always been proven right in the end.
I’m not a betting man, but I think the wise money would be on his side again when it comes to this, the new 991-generation Porsche GT3.
"We don’t want to lose the podium on that car just to have more involvement of driving. [...] Okay, you lose your left foot action. You can’t modulate the clutch when you go. But there’s so many other things that you get instead, that overcompensate, clearly, from the emotional side." – Andreas Preuninger
Q: What are the GT cars, and the GT3 specifically.
Preuninger: The GT branch of cars came up in 1999 when we needed a car to homologate for the races. And at that time the race class we wanted to compete in was the GT3 class. So the codename for this car was the Carrera GT3. We didn’t think it was the name for the car. But it attached so much to the car, even the sales guys said why not name it the GT3? And that’s how GT3 came about.
Q: Is there still a connection between the GT3 cars and the race cars?
A: This is a unique point in Porsche, because it is really the same people taking care of the street legal cars and the race cars. We never develop the GT3 street car without the Cup car or RSR in mind, and visa versa. It is one big development project with different branches I would say.
You could consider them the special cars —the GTX cars. These are the cars developed by motorsport and not by the “normal” development centre that we have in Weissach.
Q: Can you give some background on these special homologation cars?
A: We always had the very sporty versions of the 911.
Everybody knows that in ’72 we had the 2.7 RS. That was done mainly for the same reasons why we did 996 GT3, the first one, we needed a basis for homologation of a race car. You have to have a number, 200 cars legally on the street to homologate all the gizmos onboard for racing.
After the 2.7 RS, there was not so much going on. In the beginning of the ‘80s we had the SC RS models.
But the tailwind to this whole RS/GT3 idea came from my perception with the 964 RS, a car that really hit the market big. It was such a blast to drive, so enjoyable, so direct, so pure. And after that with the 993 RS, same thing.
You tend to glorify things so it’s always good to drive these cars from time to time. People might say there was never a car which was so good as the 993 RS… which is a joke. Drive one today and you see what progress did since then.
Q: What was it like to develop the first GT3?
A: The first 996 GT3, if you look at the differentiation to the base model: We use the same rims that were available through Techquipment, slightly different tires, but it was the same aero kit you could buy on a normal Carrera. So we developed the bucket seats and threw everything out and made a complete new suspension; took the turbo engine and detuned it, put away the turbochargers and loaded the thing up with more compression. And that’s how the first GT3 model came about. It had 3.6-litres and 360 horsepower: 100 hp per litre. This was HUGE at that time.
Some people didn’t believe in the car. The same thing happened in ’72 with the RS. They said no, you can’t sell that car. Nobody will want that. Something similar happened with the 996 GT3. We sold so many more cars than were actually in the busness concept. And so a star was born.
I remember the headlines: the 911 is back! We had so much criticism about converting to water cooled engines: 'This car is like a piece of soap and it’s not raw enough.' And then the GT3 came, and they said, 'YES! Here is the 911 again.'
All these people that I started with in 1999, 80 percent of the people are still on my [GT] team. The development process of eight GT3 cars—this is the eighth we're doing now—all the lessons learned don’t go away.
Q: What was the challenge for this new 991-gen GT3?
A: This was the absolute biggest GTX project we ever did. Absoluately. New drivetrain including a complete new engine family—it’s not a 991 engine with a hotter cam. We just use the crank case. Everything else is new stuff. I dare say, the distance, the gap is wider now between GT3 and Carrera. There are 700 new parts in that new [GT3] car.
Q: Here’s the question you’re getting a lot: Why PDK only and no manual transmission?
A: The PDK that is so discussed so much—‘Why! How can you do this! Holy Manual and skip it overboard’—I say it’s a shut up and drive.
It’s a crucial period now, people complain, forming strong opinions about something they can’t judge because they didn’t have any opportunity to drive it and judge it realistically. But that will pass as soon as the first journalists come back with their feedback—and I know exactly what this feedback is going to be like.
I experience it too often. With every new RS: ‘Oh no! This colour scheme; Oh no! These decals; How can they do this; Blah blah bloop.’ And everybody bought it nevertheless and is happy.
Q: So the new GT3 hasn’t gone soft?
A: It’s more usable, but it’s not softer. If you look at the spring rates of the car, they’re way stiffer than on the 997—way stiffer. The ride is better because of the wheelbase, so the car has less roll, less pitch than the old one. But at the same time through the length of the body, it has more lets say, residual comfort.
Q: Can you explain the ‘Neutral’ function built into the paddle shifters? Can we use it like a clutch kick?
A: That’s easy. If you pull both paddles towards you, it’s the same as if in a manual you press the clutch with your foot. And you can do that at any time, middle of a corner. That’s why we did it because in the middle of a corner when you want to initiate a drift you can use the jolt it gives when you let go of the clutch. You have to disengage the traction control stuff and then it comes exactly like a SNAP.
Or, if you have all the systems engaged, and you just want to make all your rear wheels load free this is good too. Just imagine you’re coming down a wet street, you’re too fast which can happen, and there’s a curve and there’s a big puddle of water standing there. Not good. So, what do you do? Normally, when I encounter a problem like that I press the clutch. Why? I want the rear wheel to be free of any overrun or traction influence to have the maximum potential of the tire for building up side forces. And that’s what you do simply by pressing the paddles.
It gives you more freedom, There’s additional man-machine interface. There’s no automatic upshifts in manual mode either. If you hit the rev limiter, you hit the rev limiter.
Q: So this is the future then, obviously?
A: Even in racing you have to have [computerized, electronic] systems to get faster. And we don’t want to lose the podium on that car just to have more involvement of driving. It’s a different involvement now. Okay, you lose your left foot action. You can’t modulate the clutch when you go. But there’s so many other things that you get instead, that overcompensate, clearly, from the emotional side.
Normally, when I’m going in an automatic gearbox car I’m bored in 10 minutes and I put it into full auto mode. Not on that [new GT3] car. Not at all. And I’m sure 99% of our followers will see that as soon as they’ve driven the car.
We did [GT cars] eight times. And we did it right. And I don’t think we’ll fail this time.
Q: What makes a car thrilling for you?
A: Precision. Precision and feedback. It’s these two things.
When you’re sitting in this bucket seat that you get all the information through the seat rails, through the hands, everything. So the information the car gives you about the status it’s in, this is the satisfying thing for me. And this is what the GT3 stands for: feedback.
But you can’t put it in one word. It’s emotional. It’s things like noises as well. I like a car to have a satisfying noise. It doesn’t have to be too quiet because I grew up with combustion engines. I couldn’t live with electric – it just bores the hell out of me with: zzzzzzzz. It’s not my thing.
Yeah, I think it’s the precision and feedback….
But why is something fun? It’s hard to pin down. Nobody needs a GT3. But most people want to have one. So why is that? Because it’s pleasure.
Andreas Preuninger on the Porsche 991 GT3 -- Interview Link
-- ‘Shut up and drive’ says Porsche GT3 boss
Andreas Preuninger has a cold. Which might explain why the man in charge of Porsche’s GT cars is a little edgy at the moment...
Or it might be because his latest project, the GT3, has been met with skepticism and predictable groans.
But he’s used to this.
For the past 12 years and eight cars, Preuninger has always been proven right in the end.
I’m not a betting man, but I think the wise money would be on his side again when it comes to this, the new 991-generation Porsche GT3.
"We don’t want to lose the podium on that car just to have more involvement of driving. [...] Okay, you lose your left foot action. You can’t modulate the clutch when you go. But there’s so many other things that you get instead, that overcompensate, clearly, from the emotional side." – Andreas Preuninger
Q: What are the GT cars, and the GT3 specifically.
Preuninger: The GT branch of cars came up in 1999 when we needed a car to homologate for the races. And at that time the race class we wanted to compete in was the GT3 class. So the codename for this car was the Carrera GT3. We didn’t think it was the name for the car. But it attached so much to the car, even the sales guys said why not name it the GT3? And that’s how GT3 came about.
Q: Is there still a connection between the GT3 cars and the race cars?
A: This is a unique point in Porsche, because it is really the same people taking care of the street legal cars and the race cars. We never develop the GT3 street car without the Cup car or RSR in mind, and visa versa. It is one big development project with different branches I would say.
You could consider them the special cars —the GTX cars. These are the cars developed by motorsport and not by the “normal” development centre that we have in Weissach.
Q: Can you give some background on these special homologation cars?
A: We always had the very sporty versions of the 911.
Everybody knows that in ’72 we had the 2.7 RS. That was done mainly for the same reasons why we did 996 GT3, the first one, we needed a basis for homologation of a race car. You have to have a number, 200 cars legally on the street to homologate all the gizmos onboard for racing.
After the 2.7 RS, there was not so much going on. In the beginning of the ‘80s we had the SC RS models.
But the tailwind to this whole RS/GT3 idea came from my perception with the 964 RS, a car that really hit the market big. It was such a blast to drive, so enjoyable, so direct, so pure. And after that with the 993 RS, same thing.
You tend to glorify things so it’s always good to drive these cars from time to time. People might say there was never a car which was so good as the 993 RS… which is a joke. Drive one today and you see what progress did since then.
Q: What was it like to develop the first GT3?
A: The first 996 GT3, if you look at the differentiation to the base model: We use the same rims that were available through Techquipment, slightly different tires, but it was the same aero kit you could buy on a normal Carrera. So we developed the bucket seats and threw everything out and made a complete new suspension; took the turbo engine and detuned it, put away the turbochargers and loaded the thing up with more compression. And that’s how the first GT3 model came about. It had 3.6-litres and 360 horsepower: 100 hp per litre. This was HUGE at that time.
Some people didn’t believe in the car. The same thing happened in ’72 with the RS. They said no, you can’t sell that car. Nobody will want that. Something similar happened with the 996 GT3. We sold so many more cars than were actually in the busness concept. And so a star was born.
I remember the headlines: the 911 is back! We had so much criticism about converting to water cooled engines: 'This car is like a piece of soap and it’s not raw enough.' And then the GT3 came, and they said, 'YES! Here is the 911 again.'
All these people that I started with in 1999, 80 percent of the people are still on my [GT] team. The development process of eight GT3 cars—this is the eighth we're doing now—all the lessons learned don’t go away.
Q: What was the challenge for this new 991-gen GT3?
A: This was the absolute biggest GTX project we ever did. Absoluately. New drivetrain including a complete new engine family—it’s not a 991 engine with a hotter cam. We just use the crank case. Everything else is new stuff. I dare say, the distance, the gap is wider now between GT3 and Carrera. There are 700 new parts in that new [GT3] car.
Q: Here’s the question you’re getting a lot: Why PDK only and no manual transmission?
A: The PDK that is so discussed so much—‘Why! How can you do this! Holy Manual and skip it overboard’—I say it’s a shut up and drive.
It’s a crucial period now, people complain, forming strong opinions about something they can’t judge because they didn’t have any opportunity to drive it and judge it realistically. But that will pass as soon as the first journalists come back with their feedback—and I know exactly what this feedback is going to be like.
I experience it too often. With every new RS: ‘Oh no! This colour scheme; Oh no! These decals; How can they do this; Blah blah bloop.’ And everybody bought it nevertheless and is happy.
Q: So the new GT3 hasn’t gone soft?
A: It’s more usable, but it’s not softer. If you look at the spring rates of the car, they’re way stiffer than on the 997—way stiffer. The ride is better because of the wheelbase, so the car has less roll, less pitch than the old one. But at the same time through the length of the body, it has more lets say, residual comfort.
Q: Can you explain the ‘Neutral’ function built into the paddle shifters? Can we use it like a clutch kick?
A: That’s easy. If you pull both paddles towards you, it’s the same as if in a manual you press the clutch with your foot. And you can do that at any time, middle of a corner. That’s why we did it because in the middle of a corner when you want to initiate a drift you can use the jolt it gives when you let go of the clutch. You have to disengage the traction control stuff and then it comes exactly like a SNAP.
Or, if you have all the systems engaged, and you just want to make all your rear wheels load free this is good too. Just imagine you’re coming down a wet street, you’re too fast which can happen, and there’s a curve and there’s a big puddle of water standing there. Not good. So, what do you do? Normally, when I encounter a problem like that I press the clutch. Why? I want the rear wheel to be free of any overrun or traction influence to have the maximum potential of the tire for building up side forces. And that’s what you do simply by pressing the paddles.
It gives you more freedom, There’s additional man-machine interface. There’s no automatic upshifts in manual mode either. If you hit the rev limiter, you hit the rev limiter.
Q: So this is the future then, obviously?
A: Even in racing you have to have [computerized, electronic] systems to get faster. And we don’t want to lose the podium on that car just to have more involvement of driving. It’s a different involvement now. Okay, you lose your left foot action. You can’t modulate the clutch when you go. But there’s so many other things that you get instead, that overcompensate, clearly, from the emotional side.
Normally, when I’m going in an automatic gearbox car I’m bored in 10 minutes and I put it into full auto mode. Not on that [new GT3] car. Not at all. And I’m sure 99% of our followers will see that as soon as they’ve driven the car.
We did [GT cars] eight times. And we did it right. And I don’t think we’ll fail this time.
Q: What makes a car thrilling for you?
A: Precision. Precision and feedback. It’s these two things.
When you’re sitting in this bucket seat that you get all the information through the seat rails, through the hands, everything. So the information the car gives you about the status it’s in, this is the satisfying thing for me. And this is what the GT3 stands for: feedback.
But you can’t put it in one word. It’s emotional. It’s things like noises as well. I like a car to have a satisfying noise. It doesn’t have to be too quiet because I grew up with combustion engines. I couldn’t live with electric – it just bores the hell out of me with: zzzzzzzz. It’s not my thing.
Yeah, I think it’s the precision and feedback….
But why is something fun? It’s hard to pin down. Nobody needs a GT3. But most people want to have one. So why is that? Because it’s pleasure.
Andreas Preuninger on the Porsche 991 GT3 -- Interview Link
04-24-2013, 06:53 PM
#1587
I think "shut up and drive" and "blah blah bloop" (?) is not in the handbook of "win and influence" but the thing that catches my eye is the "buy everyone bought it." I'm afraid that is the pride before the fall. This kind of complacent, "yeah, but they all bought it ... what a bunch of whining, rich, suckers, never satisfied, always demanding."
This reminds me that "Excellence was Expected" is written in the past tense.
This reminds me that "Excellence was Expected" is written in the past tense.
04-24-2013, 07:02 PM
#1588
Rennlist Member
I think "shut up and drive" and "blah blah bloop" (?) is not in the handbook of "win and influence" but the thing that catches my eye is the "buy everyone bought it." I'm afraid that is the pride before the fall. This kind of complacent, "yeah, but they all bought it ... what a bunch of whining, rich, suckers, never satisfied, always demanding."
This reminds me that "Excellence was Expected" is written in the past tense.
This reminds me that "Excellence was Expected" is written in the past tense.
04-24-2013, 07:10 PM
#1589
Rennlist Member
I won my own bet! I had $1 on yourself or Trackcar commenting on this in the negative within 30 minutes. You were bang on 25!
I think "Shut up and Drive" was aimed at some folk on this board. I think it was a perfect retort. AP must be sick of defending something no one can yet drive and form their own opinion on. This must hands down be the hardest period of a GT development - built the car now waiting for the press drives and general release...
I don't know anyone who has driven the car. I do know someone in the Motorsport business that has been close (proximity wise) to the test team and the car being tested on the ring late last year. When I hear the background noise of decent on this board I remember the conversation we had based on his observations of the car lapping the ring and his chats with the test drivers at the hotel afterwards. Suffice to say this car is by all accounts more than a sum of its parts and the stories of the sound of that engine on song and the demos laps in "hooligan mode" give me faith that Porsche have created an entirely new dimension in this product this time around, After all the car carries nothing over form the previous GT3 and four times the development resources and project time went into its creation. I dont want to curse this but I think many here will be quite surprised when they read the first reviews on this car.
I think AP played this interview exactly as one would expect him to given the revolutionary nature of the product and his media school training. He gives nothing away but his conviction. I think that's summed up in "shut up and drive it" and regards journalists first impressions "and I know exactly what this feedback is going to be like". AP has put his ***** out there in every interview Ive seen on the subject, his conviction is very strong with this car regardless of the company line and from my own perspective this is definitely backed up by factory and independent test drivers who were present that week at the Ring for chassis tuning...
Watch this space!
I think "Shut up and Drive" was aimed at some folk on this board. I think it was a perfect retort. AP must be sick of defending something no one can yet drive and form their own opinion on. This must hands down be the hardest period of a GT development - built the car now waiting for the press drives and general release...
I don't know anyone who has driven the car. I do know someone in the Motorsport business that has been close (proximity wise) to the test team and the car being tested on the ring late last year. When I hear the background noise of decent on this board I remember the conversation we had based on his observations of the car lapping the ring and his chats with the test drivers at the hotel afterwards. Suffice to say this car is by all accounts more than a sum of its parts and the stories of the sound of that engine on song and the demos laps in "hooligan mode" give me faith that Porsche have created an entirely new dimension in this product this time around, After all the car carries nothing over form the previous GT3 and four times the development resources and project time went into its creation. I dont want to curse this but I think many here will be quite surprised when they read the first reviews on this car.
I think AP played this interview exactly as one would expect him to given the revolutionary nature of the product and his media school training. He gives nothing away but his conviction. I think that's summed up in "shut up and drive it" and regards journalists first impressions "and I know exactly what this feedback is going to be like". AP has put his ***** out there in every interview Ive seen on the subject, his conviction is very strong with this car regardless of the company line and from my own perspective this is definitely backed up by factory and independent test drivers who were present that week at the Ring for chassis tuning...
Watch this space!
04-24-2013, 07:15 PM
#1590
Rennlist Member
I won my own bet! I had $1 on yourself or Trackcar commenting on this in the negative within 30 minutes. You were bang on 25!
I think "Shut up and Drive" was aimed at some folk on this board. I think it was a perfect retort. AP must be sick of defending something no one can yet drive and form their own opinion on. This must hands down be the hardest period of a GT development - built the car now waiting for the press drives and general release...
I don't know anyone who has driven the car. I do know someone in the Motorsport business that has been close (proximity wise) to the test team and the car being tested on the ring late last year. When I hear the background noise of decent on this board I remember the conversation we had based on his observations of the car lapping the ring and his chats with the test drivers at the hotel afterwards. Suffice to say this car is by all accounts more than a sum of its parts and the stories of the sound of that engine on song and the demos laps in "hooligan mode" give me faith that Porsche have created an entirely new dimension in this product this time around, After all the car carries nothing over form the previous GT3 and four times the development resources and project time went into its creation. I dont want to curse this but I think many here will be quite surprised when they read the first reviews on this car.
I think AP played this interview exactly as one would expect him to given the revolutionary nature of the product and his media school training. He gives nothing away but his conviction. I think that's summed up in "shut up and drive it" and regards journalists first impressions "and I know exactly what this feedback is going to be like". AP has put his ***** out there in every interview Ive seen on the subject, his conviction is very strong with this car regardless of the company line and from my own perspective this is definitely backed up by factory and independent test drivers who were present that week at the Ring for chassis tuning...
Watch this space!
I think "Shut up and Drive" was aimed at some folk on this board. I think it was a perfect retort. AP must be sick of defending something no one can yet drive and form their own opinion on. This must hands down be the hardest period of a GT development - built the car now waiting for the press drives and general release...
I don't know anyone who has driven the car. I do know someone in the Motorsport business that has been close (proximity wise) to the test team and the car being tested on the ring late last year. When I hear the background noise of decent on this board I remember the conversation we had based on his observations of the car lapping the ring and his chats with the test drivers at the hotel afterwards. Suffice to say this car is by all accounts more than a sum of its parts and the stories of the sound of that engine on song and the demos laps in "hooligan mode" give me faith that Porsche have created an entirely new dimension in this product this time around, After all the car carries nothing over form the previous GT3 and four times the development resources and project time went into its creation. I dont want to curse this but I think many here will be quite surprised when they read the first reviews on this car.
I think AP played this interview exactly as one would expect him to given the revolutionary nature of the product and his media school training. He gives nothing away but his conviction. I think that's summed up in "shut up and drive it" and regards journalists first impressions "and I know exactly what this feedback is going to be like". AP has put his ***** out there in every interview Ive seen on the subject, his conviction is very strong with this car regardless of the company line and from my own perspective this is definitely backed up by factory and independent test drivers who were present that week at the Ring for chassis tuning...
Watch this space!
I agree with you (and AP) that until the 1st drive reports come in, we are all flying blind ... I am certain that the car is 'great', greater than all those that came before it, I am just "on the fence" about giving up my clutch and manual transmission, not because I believe that I can drive better/faster with it than with PDK, clearly I cannot, but I cant decide if the loss thereof will detract from my driving pleasure...
we will see....