Nizer

Straightforward question: if Porsche offered a no-cost choice between 5-lug or center-locks on the GT3, which would you choose?

DC640

No brainer 5 lug.

neanicu

That's easy!

triode

Old school.

MM3.9GT3

To the Porsche employees reading this forum: Please offer a 5 lug option. Please do not be arrogant, and listen to your loyal customers.

10 GT3

Pointless poll as Porsche is not going to offer it with 5-lugs. Porsche isn't listening to their previous GT3 owners and going their own way. Solution is to do what I am doing and just not buy one. If Porsche wants me as a customer in the future they just need to reform and offer the car I want to buy.

Nizer

Understand the sentiment and your decision but I'm not willing to give up without at least an effort. Look at the sunroof issue on the 997.1 GT3. Some marketing tool decided they'd sell more GT3's to Americans if they came with sunroofs. Backlash was loud and swift, and Porsche ultimately woke up.

wanna911

+1

keep complaining.

frayed

You really think the sunroof was killed b/c of complaints on RL, and that it originally was spec'd due to market analysis?

DC640

They may listen if sale numbers decrease and they lose money.. But I think they will sell a lot and tell them they are going to be the fastest guy on the track while drinking coffee.. And centerlock will make them even faster changing wheels

mdrums

Only if Porsche would listen to true enthusiast. The NEW Porsche is losing me and guys like me. I'm not against changes, growth and technology but only when it makes sence. Center Lock wheels like,the current system make zero sence.

MaxLTV

Well, "new" Porsche should be more responsive to customers than old traditional Porsche. In olden days engineers did what they felt passionate about, regardless of if it made sense to customers. Sometimes it works and results in cars with a lot of heart and soul, but it's really hit and miss, with mostly miss.

Marketing-driven companies of modern days use combination of people and technologies to suck in everything they can from the market to make something that the market will swallow and ask for more. So as a result, there are very few misses, but many products (but not all) that are rather bland and heartless - I'm sure you all noticed this tendency in many areas besides cars. And when marketers measure the sentiment, they (we, actually) weigh much higher the opinions of those who form opinions of others - in this case those would be bloggers, jornos, forum enthusiasts, driving instructors etc. If porsche's marketers are worth their pay, they know how to measure this stuff and to assess the risk of medium and long term brand erosion.

In much shorter version - if Porsche truly turned into a marketing compan as some here claim, bitching on rennlist and everywhere else we can may actually help.

Sorry for a long post, but it's just what I know quite well, although not from automotive industry. Marketing is not all bad - if they do their job right, they actually make products that create most value for customers at least cost for the vendor. Not offering 5-lugs or bucket seats (or probably even lack of warranty for track use) is destruction of customer value without much gain for Porsche, so smart marketers should stop that eventually, if they get a way.

Dr.Bill

Hell, I'd pay extra for 5-lug wheels! Particularly if they were 18" diameter, 19" max. Sigh.

mooty

smart ppl take 5 lugs
the other type take CL.
until you have air jack and impact tool on CL, i am pretty sure i 'll be faster with 5 lugs using impact gun.

for me it's not about safety, i change hub on 5 lugs very often too. hell i still have multiple sets of uprights for my 996gt3 collecting dust in garage. it's about convenience in changing tires.

now if you talking about cup car CL where i can over torque with impact gun and be done with it. yes, sure, CL is it. until then, i want 5 lugs.

Bill_C4S

If they can offer 5 lugs as an option on the 991 Turbo/Turbo S...then I really can't see it being that much of an issue to do so on the GT3....