savyboy

I totally poached that info from Rennteam- full attribution to "GNIL". I have provided some other Rennteam links and thought not to overdo it but I should have. Now corrected

Macca

I think anyone speccing a GT3 would be mad not to consider adding the new LED headlights. These get a full paragraph mention in the official press release and all press photos are take with them fitted bar the ceramic brake equipped Geneva car which still used the older style Xenon units. My guess is the GT3 will look more unique with the "dual tube" design of the LED system regardless of whether you find the intelligent lighting senarios (highway, country road, motorway etc) function useful. The "leeper lights" in the surrounding bezel are a little bling admittedly but Id imagine the LED headlights will start appearing on all 991 from the next make over so why not future proof the look of your GT3....

Mike in CA

Macca they are cool, but IMO not $3110 USD cool.

Call me crazy.....

Macca

Heres the first DYI modification. Remove "PORSCHE" lettering. Look how much better this is!

Can someone who can use photoshoop please spray paint the rear red reflectors on the bumper body colour? It would only take 60 minutes to pop these out and have them sprayed or vinyl wrapped body colour to remove the last "ugly scar" from the new 991 GT3 rear end....

Macca

Mike. I agree with you the price is stupid. They were outside my remit too. I kept it pretty basic (leather upgrade option 78 and alacantera/leather door upgrade CLS - platinum stitching not red), I ditched the chrono wart. Added red belts, heated standard seats, white dials. I didnt bother with adaptive sports seats not nose lift or ceramic brakes (a very expensive option which I dont believe benefits street driving). I just kept looking at the press pictures and then referring them back to the Geneva show car wiithout the LED headlights and couldnt help but think of these as a pure cosmetic upgrade and luxury (given the price) admittedly. They give a Carrera GT look to the car and given the light they put out and the keeper lights in the surround will become a talking point I feel and a unique differentiation between the GT3 and the 991S in both others rear vision mirrors and when parked statically...my experience from the 993 says they as a stand alone retrofitted part they will be even more expensive to add at a later time whereas painted wheels, upgraded seats and coloured dials can always be added after the fact at reasonable cost...all IMHO of course!

If anyone is really good with photoshop could the also make the seat backs in the rear image of the GT3 above white?

Carrera GT

If they were lighter by some significant margin and didn't require the weight of the washer system (or the silver plastic nipples poking through the bumper cover) then I'd be dumb enough to pay $3K just for the experiment and maybe get $1000 back in resale value or ease of selling.

I think it stinks that Porsche has not offered the lightweight headlight option. Perhaps that's a late availability thing and the factory might want to see early adopters subsidize this R&D into LED headlights (already on the Pana and Cayenne Turbo, but I'm guessing this a newer design in some way.)

But they look like crap to me, they'll surely be on $25K Hyundai's by this time next year and they don't actually do anything. I've had cars with and without the cornering (PDLS) and it just doesn't matter. I live at the end of five miles and 60 turns up a mountain road that people visit just for the challenge of riding and driving these roads, so I'm pretty familiar with the pluses and minuses of night driving lights.

Macca

Carrera GT. Each to their own I guess. I like their aesthetic personally.

Id rather not the headlight cleaning system either but I believe that's now mandatory for Xenon headlights in Europe....

I've never had PDLS so I have no idea who well that works. It wasn't a consideration for me when ticking the LED+PDLS box...

Mike in CA

I have PDLS on my Cayenne S. It's not something I would have ordered but it came as part of a package that had other stuff I did want. In addition to the swiveling feature, the lights adjust to give longer coverage as speed increases and there are also cornering lights. I don't know if they have found a way to carry that last feature over to the GT3. It works but not so well that it really makes a big difference.

To your earlier point, we all have different thresholds of sensitivity as to which things we're willing to spend outrageous amounts of money on and which things we aren't. One could argue that once you've decided to spend $140K+ on a limited use sports car you've already crossed the boundaries of reason! I have plenty of hobbies (in addition to car disease) that I've spent absurd money on and that other people would think is nuts, so if you want LED headlights, by god you should get them!

Dr.Bill

The LED headlights are a relative bargain. They were a $3500 option on an R8!

Macca

Mike. The LED+PDLS option is also "adaptive" (intensity can change with speed based on selection of situation - i.e. will not do so on highway but will do so with country road etc) as well as swivel. Over course you are right about sensitivity etc. This is my one concession to heart over head/wallet with regards to my own option selection...

Bill. Interesting data point on the R8. Try buying a set of 993 factory OEM xenon upgraded lights (and ballasts). These were a 2000 usd option in there day but will set you back closer to 3000 usd today for the whole kit + installation (many just retrofit with aftermarket HID systems like I have done for a lot lot list)...

I believe the Turbo may well come out with the LED lights as an option and the 991Turbo S & GT2 when they break cover will no doubt come with them as standard....

As the technology becomes more common place I would hope to see these reduce significantly in price (but they probably wont!).

m_powered

thanks Crex, I'll keep the orange RS1 coz it feels unique and sensational. For the 991, I'd wait untill reivews of mainstream car magazines come out. ..

Trackdays are organized twice a month in SIC. It'll be great for a meet up by fall

Nizer

From Teamspeed:

Big improvement.

Macca

Awesome. Thanks Nizer...

MaxLTV

Is it DOT approved? Will insurance drop you for tampering with safety equipment (I assume those reflectors were for safety - definitely not for good looks)?

Carrera GT

Removing the rear decals from the GT3 requires only a simply update to onboard programming of the rear-wheel steering computers.