blake

I am on the edge of my seat waiting for first hand feedback from the track crowd… As those of you from the 996 & 997 GT3 boards know, a GT3 on the track is like a virus - and we all are really sick! Please let us know your initial thoughts compared to the earlier lineage of GT3s.

Congrats to all those on the list… This should be a fun car. it is sexy as hell!

-Blake

997TTMeteor

Posted on Pistonheads yesterday:



Great day today just sat down with a well earned beer in hotel in Valencia. 1350kms today including 3 hours of track time at Guadix circuit. Video to follow. Car is simply sublime on circuit, the best road car ever on track no question. We did about 20 laps each in 5 lap stints to get familiar with the circuit and the car with all driver aids on. The car is brilliant there is a lot of movement and drifting at both ends before the systems intervene and then the intervention is very subtle. Once we had got settled we did some longer stints with stability off and traction on. The car is awesome a lot of typical road car under steer but you can use the weight transfer to kill it either trail brake or use the rear weight bias with a bung and lots of controllable oversteer. Tyre pressures need watching we had to let the rears down twice as it all came to us about 10psi in total. Once they get up above about 2.7bar the grip falls away. Had to pump them all up for the road trip home. The weather was perfect 20C dry and track to ourselves. Absolute result given weather at home.
The engine has loosen up almost with every mile better today than yesterday, especially in the mid range on the autoroute it's transformed in the 3500-4500rpm range which is crucial on the 120-165kph cruise. 21 mpg at 130kph ave autoroute cruise and 10mpg on circuit. Used 5 full tanks today! my only moan is that it's mighty harsh over the last 500rpm, it sounds frankly awful, very mechanical and rattly, you just change at 8500 and it's fine. The power delivery is brilliant very linear, there is no real need for the last 500 revs anyway. Gearbox is superb you can even blip a downshift!!! brakes were great no fade at all, ABS very good, no pedal issues at all. Steering feel is very good for an EPAS, lacks a bit of feel when the grip comes back compared to my race cayman.

frayed

First I've read about corner entry understeer and the last 500rpm being gritty/harsh. But it sounds like this fella really enjoyed it on track.

blake

Thanks 997TTMeteor and frayed…

And frayed - welcome back to the GT3 community! Lots of the guys in the "GT3 crew" that I run with have progressed from 996 GT3s all the way up to racing Cups over the years, but are now back to the 996.2 GT3s… The crew is not that interested in the 991 GT3, though a few have them on order as DDs… In fact, most have picked up "old" 996 GT3s so we can DE with each other and screw around… Lots of fun.

The 991GT3 has gotten my attention. I plan to make it a 90% DD/10% track car. The 996 will always be the love of my life, but I know I'll have a crave for speed on occasional DE days.

-B

sechsgang

Who complains about the last 500revs on a gt3? Of course it's harsh lol. My cup at 9k rpm is ballistic...

SamFromTX

I did today. Trying to figure out the error I'm getting uploading the video. The car handles great on track but stock negative camber on the front is -1.5 degrees, which may be the reason for understeer. Mine is now changed to -2.5 (needed shims). I also increased the rear to -2.0 and adjusted the rear sway bar. That bar has 3 positions and stock is in the middle. Mine is now on the firmest setting. All this should help decrease understeer and increase ease of turning.

BBMGT3

saw one on friday. amazing exhaust note. driver said car is very pointy compared to 997, and RWS in slow corners needed getting used to because *** swings around but its not actually sliding. in the flesh the car is really quite beautiful, esp the front.

MaxLTV

I take it with a grain of salt. It's possible to entry-understeer anything - too much entry speed, braking too late or to even too early, trail-braking too little or too far, steering too quickly or just too much will result in entry understeer.

I once gave my car, set up to be neutral to slight oversteer, to a friend. He said that it understeered 2/3 through the corner. Then I rode with him - basically he turned the wheel too much for a turn, and the front scrubbed through turn until it slowed down enough for the front to hook up, then the front got grip and the rear snapped, but that was counteracted by stability control (left on) to cause the feeling that "the car finally hooked on". In short, it was driver error masked by cleverness of the car. So when I hear "entry understeer" I always take it with grain of salt. Not saying it was driver's error in this case, but it's possible. I imagine, at this performance level even for a very good driver it takes a while to fully master this car.

As for the sound - it's subjective. I'm not a fan of loud noises myself. But I'd rather use earplugs than not use the entire rev range of the engine. The author's suggestion just made me cringe - as if he is a chauffeur.

frayed

Thanks Blake. The 996 GT3 as a track toy makes a ton of sense. Fully depreciated, simple, minimal electronics, proven drivetrain and cheap to run (in the context of tracking porsches). I thought mine was a terrible street car but as a track toy that can be driven to the track, you can't really want more. I also think the most intense of all the GT3s.

I see the 991 GT3 as a completely different animal. As you said, it makes sense as a street car that gets some exercise on track. When does yours arrive?

sechsgang

I still miss my 996 GT3...what a FANTASTIC raw car. That's what made me not like the 997 GT3 as much...even if the chassis was definitely better...