jcb-memphis

Almost 996ish.

Conekilr

LEDS....



Bi-Xenons...

Mike in CA

PDK offers substantial practical benefits across the board. LED's offer minor weight savings, slightly better electrical efficiency, and a questionable subjective esthetic, but have no major practical benefits compared to standard Bi-Xenons.

Some new features get me excited, others don't. Looking at the pics above I just don't see the big deal. LED's might have me interested at $300 just to have the latest thing, but not at $3K. I'm willing to put up with Porsche gouging me on some things, but it has to be something I really want. As for resale, LED's will become common and cheap. A future buyer might want them, but he/she sure as heck won't be willing to pay anywhere near the premium for them that you did. And if that buyer is willing to turn down a well kept 991 GT3 just because it doesn't have LED headlights, the end may be near.

Not trying to talk anybody out of getting them, FWIW just saying why I'm not.

911dev

personally I don't much care for the LEDs appearance from the photos above. I seriously doubt they will bring any value when selling. don't care much about saddling myself with Porsche's ridiculous up-charges.

RyanPerrella

The LED lights will also give the 911 the same 4 LED appearance in the headlight cluster as the Panamera/Cayenne Turbo/GTS. This will likely be a standard feature on the new 991 Turbo.

If you drive the GT3 at night lighting is of paramount importance. I sell alot of GT3's and I don't personally have a customer that uses the car STRICTLY as a track car, most of my clients drive them on the street and a few of them take them to the track once or twice a year. For a street car lights are important, whether or not you NEED LED lights is another story. It will give the front end a unique appearance though and that counts for something right?

frayed

Aesthetics aside, are you saying the LEDs are safer, brighter, more effective?

I've had HIDs (bi zenon or whatever) in my last two rigs (997S and 997 GT3). Those lights were great.

Nick

FWIW, I found this article on automotive light.
http://betterautomotivelighting.com/...perior-to-hid/

roberga

considering where your clients live, it is not a surprise. I would guess that 70% of the folks on this board are at the track a couple times a month and at least once a month. Even if it is 90% road for me 100% of the decision to have a GT3 was for the track.

RyanPerrella

Let me give you a little perspective on my point of view, it might help. I've moved more of these cars than anyone I've ever met. I don't know of a single one of my clients who uses their GT3 or GT3 RS (I've been with Porsche since late 2010) exclusively on the race track. To further that I couldn't tell you the name of one that uses the car for anything more than the "occasional" track day. You're guess that 70% of GT3 owners use these cars as track machines and track machines alone is not a view that my experience supports. Most of my clients use the car as a weekend toy and a few of them use it as a daily driver through Los Angeles. I don't have a client that uses the GT3 strictly as a track toy. I think that guy does exist but I think he/she represents maybe 1% of total GT3 owners.

So for my clientele, lighting in a city with great roads that are usually only great when free of traffic is a critical element for the total performance of the car. If you can't see down the road how can you safely determine your limits?

Now, how effective and to what benefit the new LED lights REALLY offer we can both speculate on. I haven't seen them yet, I haven't driven a car with them yet and I cannot comment on whether they're worth the extra charge. If I know anything about Porsche it's that they don't put out gimmicks, if there's ground to be broken on headlights and they see fit to invest in developing it and offering it for more than 3X the cost of 997.2 Dynamic Cornering Lights (PDLS) then I'm willing to bet that they're a worthwhile option. Porsche doesn't do fads, Porsche pushes the boundaries farther and if there's innovation to be had with illuminating the night then this is likely that next step. Maybe we should wait until we have some more details before making a decision on LED headlights?

Also, Of all the people that have inquired on the new GT3 only a small handful have ever mentioned "tracking" the car. Remember this is still a street car, it's the RS's that typically grow a roll cage. Most of our clients that will actually buy this car will be using it on the street...and maybe once a year on the track for fun at a PCA event. That's the reality in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles which is in my estimation the worlds largest market for Porsche. (That means that there's more Porsche cars here than anywhere else in the world)

Now lets get back to the AWESOME REAR WHEEL STEERING! I think this could be the GAME CHANGER for what a car can really do and this could be the benchmark that separates the 991 GT3 from the 997 GT3. What's the word on the internet forums about that one? This is the feature that I'm most keep to test out, I know the PDK will be phenomenal, but I have no idea how this rear wheel steer setup will perform! I can't wait to try it!

mooty

Christ we now r concerned with led lights?
gt3 is about engine chassis gearbox and dynamic, EVERYTHING else is just fking bull****.

I'm sorry there is NO greatI roads to run gt3. mullholand? tail of the dragon? I got to b kidding.

I move a lot of these cars too about 50 since 2004 and I don't sell cars as job. driving on street is fine. driving a gtx car fast enough on street u are endangering public safety. driving to brunch is great. drive on trk fine. park it as sculpture is nice. led lights.... boring.

using a gt3 as Dd is akin to wearing Armani to,play soccer. dumb.
u r sling ur clients a disservice by not explaining that clearly

I m beginning to like this forum. now I understand why reter and roberga are here !
it's not what the car can do, it's what the driver can do.

Dr.Bill

Porsche is behind the times again. In 2010, the V10 R8 had LED headlights standard, they were a $3500 option with the V8 model. With the 2014 refresh, LED headlights are standard on all R8's.

So, I would certainly not say Porsche is 'pushing the boundaries'. 'Follow the leader' is more like it.

Z356

Yes, I agree with Dr. Bill! But in Porsche's defense, the R8 is Audi's 'halo' car with low production numbers! It is not necessarily a money maker for them! Audi sometimes decides to do things on the R8 without concern for the bottom line...and writes it off to 'brand advertising'! Porsche, on the other hand, considers the 991 a mature product and needs it to make a profit on every one that it sells!

Interestingly, it has been brought up by many Porsche employees I met at Zuffenhausen on this trip that one of the primary value they see in the merger with VW is their ability to NEGOTIATE a better price from suppliers! In the scheme of things, Hella or Bosch might not care that much about an order for 991 LED lights (numbers are relative small) and will price them accordingly (meaning very high!). But with the VW buying team squarely behind them now, Porsche expects to get more attention to their specialized products, get them sooner and achieve a lower cost per unit! I will bet you that Porsche executives in Germany and Atlanta think that LED headlights (incl. Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus -PDLS +) at $3100 on the US 991 gt3 is an unbelievable great price for this lighting option, compared to what the vendor originally wanted for it years ago! And they think we should be grateful of their efforts in bringing down the cost of this option, compared to what it would have otherwise be if it was not for their hard negotiating to get Bosch or Hella to agree to a lower price per unit. So this is all in the eye of the beholder. Keep this perspective in mind when you see the prices they ask for some of these options!

I will talk more about the 'pricing' issues (e.g. on 'Porsche Exclusive' options) when I post about the morning I spent with the top executives of 'Porsche Exclusive' in Zuffenhausen on April 18th!

Saludos,
Eduardo
Bologna, Italia

Cupcar#12

Its funny to think that i just paid ~ $2k for a Diving Light (as in scuba), its an LED etc. but really... compared to the wiz bang LED lights on the GT-3 from a technology perspective my dive light was built in the stone age.
Anyway - my 2 cents... Get them if you like them and move on....

frayed

I just want to to know if they work better. Clearly bi zenons are more effective than halogen. Same step up in performance with the LEDs? If so, I might get them. If not, I'll pass.

Hopefully we know more before orders have to go final.

Cupcar#12

IMHO (with never having seen them) they will offer less performance than the HID's. This is based on my experience with dive lights. HID's offer a tighter more focused beam that "Cuts" very well. of course this is highly dependent on the design of the reflector and the lens in HID and the design of the LED and lens in the LED versions. LED tends to scatter more readily due to the design and placement of the LED's.

Totally different application so this analogy may be completely false. If they are AS Good AS the HID system i would be impressed however. the Audi system does not seem better than the HID's again IMHO with no scientific data behind it. Just seat of the pants observation.

I Choose LED for diving for 2 reasons, 1 power consumption is 3x lower than HID, 2) durability is much greater. The trade off is in the bean pattern.

If they offered them with out the cornering gizmo's they would make a nice light weight alternative to HID's, I'd buy them then even at $3k and if the performance was the same or a little less. at resale time they are going to me a "little" more desirable but i doubt they would ever break a deal or substantially effect $ value.

They can probably be easily retrofitted as well (at a higher cost) so it will be the Hot item to modify your 991 with in short order.

ymmv