991 GT3 First Impressions
07-31-2015, 11:08 AM
#1
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
991 GT3 First Impressions
I think I've owned and tracked (and raced several) every series of 911 since a 1978 930 - just got a sapphire blue 991 gt3 which my kids have already nicknamed Madame Blueberry. First impressions:
1) this thing is sick - it's just crazy fast. It feels like the torque increases on every upshift.
2) it's loud - plenty of mezger-esque rattles and whines and drivetrain noises on startup. It's NOT a soft, quiet touring car.
3) 9,000 RPMs - holy crap. 9,000 RPMs!!!!! 9,000 is visceral - no question.
4) it's really stiff and well built. It picks up the front wheel pulling into my angled driveway, which the 997 did not.
5) the understeer appears to be gone - praise jesus.
The 997 felt like the ultimate evolution of an anachronism. Like they took a 1970s 911 and applied every modern engineering concept they could. The 991 feels like the weissach engineers got drunk, stole an F1 car and put a 911 looking body on it. It's just completely different, but in a good way. They managed to keep the 911ness somehow.
Manual transmission. I like shifting gears and was worried, but now I get why this car has PDK. The design of the drivetrain incorporated PDK as an integral part. There's just no way a human being could keep up with this thing - you would either shift 300 RPMs too early or hit the rev limiter on every shift. This car, on average, has 22% shorter gearing than the 997 in the first 5 gears. Think about that - while you are at 6,000 RPM in the 997 in 2nd waiting for redline, the 991 is at 7,300 and screaming for 1700 more RPM.
The car just does things that a human shifting a manual wouldn't be able to do.
Asking why this car doesn't have a stick shift would be like asking steve jobs why the iPhone doesn't have a rotary dial.
1) this thing is sick - it's just crazy fast. It feels like the torque increases on every upshift.
2) it's loud - plenty of mezger-esque rattles and whines and drivetrain noises on startup. It's NOT a soft, quiet touring car.
3) 9,000 RPMs - holy crap. 9,000 RPMs!!!!! 9,000 is visceral - no question.
4) it's really stiff and well built. It picks up the front wheel pulling into my angled driveway, which the 997 did not.
5) the understeer appears to be gone - praise jesus.
The 997 felt like the ultimate evolution of an anachronism. Like they took a 1970s 911 and applied every modern engineering concept they could. The 991 feels like the weissach engineers got drunk, stole an F1 car and put a 911 looking body on it. It's just completely different, but in a good way. They managed to keep the 911ness somehow.
Manual transmission. I like shifting gears and was worried, but now I get why this car has PDK. The design of the drivetrain incorporated PDK as an integral part. There's just no way a human being could keep up with this thing - you would either shift 300 RPMs too early or hit the rev limiter on every shift. This car, on average, has 22% shorter gearing than the 997 in the first 5 gears. Think about that - while you are at 6,000 RPM in the 997 in 2nd waiting for redline, the 991 is at 7,300 and screaming for 1700 more RPM.
The car just does things that a human shifting a manual wouldn't be able to do.
Asking why this car doesn't have a stick shift would be like asking steve jobs why the iPhone doesn't have a rotary dial.
07-31-2015, 11:13 AM
#2
991 GT3 First Impressions
Your last statement says it all!
07-31-2015, 11:25 AM
#4
Nordschleife Master
I think I've owned and tracked (and raced several) every series of 911 since a 1978 930 - just got a sapphire blue 991 gt3 which my kids have already nicknamed Madame Blueberry. First impressions:
1) this thing is sick - it's just crazy fast. It feels like the torque increases on every upshift.
2) it's loud - plenty of mezger-esque rattles and whines and drivetrain noises on startup. It's NOT a soft, quiet touring car.
3) 9,000 RPMs - holy crap. 9,000 RPMs!!!!! 9,000 is visceral - no question.
4) it's really stiff and well built. It picks up the front wheel pulling into my angled driveway, which the 997 did not.
5) the understeer appears to be gone - praise jesus.
The 997 felt like the ultimate evolution of an anachronism. Like they took a 1970s 911 and applied every modern engineering concept they could. The 991 feels like the weissach engineers got drunk, stole an F1 car and put a 911 looking body on it. It's just completely different, but in a good way. They managed to keep the 911ness somehow.
Manual transmission. I like shifting gears and was worried, but now I get why this car has PDK. The design of the drivetrain incorporated PDK as an integral part. There's just no way a human being could keep up with this thing - you would either shift 300 RPMs too early or hit the rev limiter on every shift. This car, on average, has 22% shorter gearing than the 997 in the first 5 gears. Think about that - while you are at 6,000 RPM in the 997 in 2nd waiting for redline, the 991 is at 7,300 and screaming for 1700 more RPM.
The car just does things that a human shifting a manual wouldn't be able to do.
Asking why this car doesn't have a stick shift would be like asking steve jobs why the iPhone doesn't have a rotary dial.
1) this thing is sick - it's just crazy fast. It feels like the torque increases on every upshift.
2) it's loud - plenty of mezger-esque rattles and whines and drivetrain noises on startup. It's NOT a soft, quiet touring car.
3) 9,000 RPMs - holy crap. 9,000 RPMs!!!!! 9,000 is visceral - no question.
4) it's really stiff and well built. It picks up the front wheel pulling into my angled driveway, which the 997 did not.
5) the understeer appears to be gone - praise jesus.
The 997 felt like the ultimate evolution of an anachronism. Like they took a 1970s 911 and applied every modern engineering concept they could. The 991 feels like the weissach engineers got drunk, stole an F1 car and put a 911 looking body on it. It's just completely different, but in a good way. They managed to keep the 911ness somehow.
Manual transmission. I like shifting gears and was worried, but now I get why this car has PDK. The design of the drivetrain incorporated PDK as an integral part. There's just no way a human being could keep up with this thing - you would either shift 300 RPMs too early or hit the rev limiter on every shift. This car, on average, has 22% shorter gearing than the 997 in the first 5 gears. Think about that - while you are at 6,000 RPM in the 997 in 2nd waiting for redline, the 991 is at 7,300 and screaming for 1700 more RPM.
The car just does things that a human shifting a manual wouldn't be able to do.
Asking why this car doesn't have a stick shift would be like asking steve jobs why the iPhone doesn't have a rotary dial.
You're bang on, as far as I'm concerned. Love it to death.
07-31-2015, 11:48 AM
#6
Awesome post man! Congrats!
07-31-2015, 12:17 PM
#7
Rennlist Member
Congratulations on the car.
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07-31-2015, 12:28 PM
#9
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Good review. Some astute observations there. The torque at the wheels surely drops with each upshift, but the way the car keeps the revs high and relentlessly continues to accrue speed can certainly give the impression that torque is increasing.
07-31-2015, 02:19 PM
#10
Congrats, and good assessment.
07-31-2015, 04:19 PM
#14
Three Wheelin'
There is probably a market for an iPhone with a rotary dial. Apple techs just haven't yet read the right Internet forums.
07-31-2015, 04:57 PM
#15
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
