bronson7

Congrats. Now that she did the initial break in, it's all your's now.

Kobalt

Trakcar: wife is going to love driving the Ring.

aussie jimmy

very nice. the look is starting to grow on me now.
especially the minimalist wide-*** rear.
just looks so technological for a 911.
it's definitely a futuristic 911.

congrats!

Superman32

He is at track now. haha Hope to see the report soon.

MaxLTV

Beautiful! When My wife first drove the GT3, she said, "Wow, every guy was staring at me". LOL

R.Deacon

Trakcar door pockets for tire gauge , check

ChrisF

Looks awesome. The first picture with Madeline will make an awesome profile pic

SSTHO

Report will be up tomorrow with video. Sleep deprived badly.

Over 1000kms on car now. :-)

TRAKCAR

Want to hear all about it!!

montoya

Seen at the ridge by a member of Porsche Train:



Waiting patiently for report...

TRAKCAR

SSTHO

Advise you to get a drink first if you plan on reading the entire report:


Practical Driving Experiences:

Stop & Go (~1hr boarder wait): this car is easier to drive than a BMW E92 M3 with M-DCT gearbox (or paddles). Engages gear consistently without much lag; when you get used to the right amount of throttle input, the car is as easy to drive as our BMW F01/02 750i. Wife said the shifts around town were better than the 750i; now after some experience, I now agree.

Score: 10/10

Highway Driving (60 – 70mph speed limits; 5hrs+): 7th gear is appreciated here; reduced rpms and engine noise as well. Leave it in auto and when you see a gap in traffic, the torque from the engine available at any time at these speeds in 7th gear combined with the smoothness of the PDK for a downshift (depending on your throttle modulation; more on this later) makes for a superior experience. Can feel the car’s increased weight, slightly less feel in electronic steering, and better overall stability. All this with a vastly improved interior (insulation for sound as well) make this a highway superstar. Only road noise is the drawback (as expected from any GT3). CF Bucket seats did not hurt my already poor back after 4hrs in car; same for my 997 GT2 CF buckets.

Score: 8.5/10

City Usage (0-45mph; ~1hr): car is easy and more livable than all 997s. Having manual for this a chore. The car is noticeably wider; not too wide for regular North American roads. PDK loves lazy city driving (surprisingly adaptable!); 5-6 shifts to get to 6th and 7th gear at constant commuting speed is seamless. Gearing is perfect here. This car sits higher than my 7.2 GT3, no scrapes on 991 GT3 RS where I would always scrape with 7.2 GT3. 991 GT3 RS also better on speed bumps; less feel, rebound better dialed-in.

*Interesting note: found the 991 GT3 RS more streetable for city driving than 991 GT3. Thought it was an anomaly; however, the shop foreman the dealer agrees after doing PPI on enough 991 GT3 and RS. 991 GT3 is jerkier making it a less comfortable driving experience for the city and stop & go. So, 991 GT3 RS makes a better daily driver.

However, less practical as it draws too much attention; always park it when it’s in view and have anxiety when others park right beside it and open doors, etc. (which is why the low score)

Score: 6/10


Track Driving Experience: (@ The Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, WA)

Some background:

- my driving: top groups in Pacific Northwest Region (top 50%ile); top and 2nd from top groups in Florida (lower 50%ile in top groups and top %ile in 2nd from top groups); don’t consider myself fast, but usually consistent; strongest part of my driving is shifting; weakest part is not using fullest extent of braking capability

- first few sessions to break-in new MPSC2 tires and bed brake pads

- left in auto mode (highest speed cap); but manually upshift at 7500rpm and manually downshifted when thought to be better in lower gear (read braking modulation below)

- lines were off most everywhere for this track day (need to re-learn all braking/turn-in/power-on/positioning/trail-braking points); was a mess with 2hrs of sleep; far more car than driver


Steering: was worried about the electric power steering; but the feel is great. Only marginally less communicative than the 997s. Retains by far the majority of pre-991 GT3/RS feel.

Score: 9/10

Stability: with 265 and 325 tire widths front/back, wider stance of car, substantially increased downforce, this car is planted EVERYWHERE (comparing to my well set-up 7.2 GT3 @ The Ridge); the 991 GT3 RS carries far more speed everywhere and is somehow simultaneously more planted.
There are areas of the track I thought I could break the tires loose with the 991 GT3 RS; however, it was surprisingly tough (with ESC + TC off).

Even as carrying more speed into every place of the track; this car is so well positioned (due to stability) that I find myself often with 0.2 – 0.4 sec of time to think; was accustomed to setting up car for the next turn or to complete an exit. Felt lots of extra time and track-out room left on the table.

Realize there is more room to track-out and the car is in position earlier with more buffer, ALL this at higher speeds EVERYWHERE. The pure competence of this car makes 997s feel like a 30 year old car (rather depressed coming to this realization).

Score: 10/10

Suspension/Chassis: this mostly relates to stability, but the weight transfer on this car is very predictable; the car is well dampened and there is a noticeable difference with PASM active. Didn’t play around the settings between on and off PASM. I left it on after the brakes were bedded and tires were broken-in for the afternoon sessions.

Score: TBD

Mechanical Grip: this was brought up by almost all reviews of 991 GT3 RS; there is no lie here. No exaggeration either. The single most awesome feature of this car is its raw mechanical grip. There are turns it holds that my 7.2 GT3 could not hold/would spin carrying the same amount of speed in the 991 GT3 RS (even my early “parade” laps in the morning). It was most enjoyable to feel a car I know inside out, my old 7.2 GT3, and compare it to this 991 GT3 RS. My break-in laps with being off-line and new tires/brakes shifting at 6500rpms were probably better than my best lap ever with the 7.2 GT3.

I didn’t break a sweat during the day (even without harnesses and needing to fight a bit to keep myself in proper driving position with standard belts); with the 7.2 GT2, it is a constant workout and mental battle setting yourself up for the next turn. Going fast and being relaxed was so simple in the 991 GT3 RS. Disgusting amounts of grip.

Score: 10/10 (really 11/10,… some “wtf”/ giggling to myself moments for sure)

Transmission: OK - was most hesitant about this (shifting/heal-toe is my best and most enjoyed driving aspect in GT3s/RSs to date). However, PDK Sport (only left it in this setting the entire day), is utterly phenomenal. Every shift is perfect; no chance for money shift. Idiot proof.

Auto vs. Manual mode - left the car in auto mode assuming parade laps the entire day. However, there were multiple times in auto mode that took identical turns in different gears; this lack of consistency threw me off-line in all those corners. Initial thought was, “how can anyone drive with this unpredictability?” Then giving it more thought,… it is not the system’s fault, but driver error (as usual). Which leads me to the next point (biggest takeaway for me on the 991 GT3 RS).

Throttle and Brake modulation: this will be the defining factor separating the men from the boys driving 991 GT3 RSs. So much vital to the driving experience in this car reacts solely to the driver’s input (hence, they better be sharp/polished). Throttle modulation in previous non-991 GT3/RS was less important (can’t instigate a change in gear from throttle inputs alone). Braking modulation in previous non-991 GT3/RS also less important (can’t instigate a change in gear from braking inputs alone).

However, the 991 GT3 in auto model, I do believe is faster and more efficient; reason best explained by an example: I manually intervened when I felt I was a gear too high – when you do that, it changes to manual mode for a short duration afterwards before reverting back to full auto; I was also upshifting between 6500-7500rpms the entire day [getting used to car’s power; not for easy break-in process]). Modulating your braking is more important than your throttle inputs, but both are critical to being a fast 991 GT3 RS driver.

With PDK-S, how fast and how hard you brake will determine how many gears it downshifts for you. This will set you up properly (or screw you up if you don’t input the correct driver input) to be in the right gear for the next turn. Throttle the same, but less important as you are post-apex and unwinding. If you did your braking correctly, there would only be upshifts as well from maintained/increased throttle.

991 GT3 RS is objective and well programmed; I do not believe a person with perfect pedal modulation in auto mode can be as fast as the same driver in manual mode.

Score: 10/10

Rewarding/Fun-Factor: this felt like taking a rocket launcher to a gun fight; even for simply being faster than almost everything on the track (except the formula race cars), I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t sinfully enjoyable. For all my fears of the 991 GT3 RS being boring on the track; this notion has been completely thrown out.

With so much more speed, stability, and grip – the driver’s focus changes to focus on precision of pedal modulation, driving line/apex, and slowly exploring the limits of the car’s insane grip. It is a vastly different driving experience from all pre-991 GT3/RS. Too early to say I love, like, or dislike it; was an interesting experiment. I’m honestly torn even after much deliberation.

However, the one constant is that the 991 GT3 RS is a better car in all respects, excluding subjective rewarding/fun factor compared to all prior GT3/RS.

Score: TBD (need more seat time)


Drawbacks (forcing myself to put down something):

- Cruise control: less sensitive in 991 GT3 RS than all 997s; likely because cruise control on 997s only works when staying in same gear; 991 GT3 RS needs to consider how fast you get there; i.e. does it need to auto downshift if the delta between current speed and targeted cruise control speed is “x”; cruise control in electronic gauge blocks your view of PASM on/off (tiny annoyance).

- Cost of Running: usually don’t think this way about my cars, but as streetable as this 991 GT3 RS is (driving is at least as compliant as my 750; ex-heavier steering feel), the depreciation on increased miles for a city/highway commute doesn’t make sense [yes, I realize having some equity in a car is a VERY high quality problem.]. Strange feeling for me as I’m used to DD the GT3. However, the GT3 RS draws too much attention (personally hate that) to be a DD.

- Laziness: the speeds attained in 991 GT3 RS with little skill an effort is almost a crime; easy to pick-up bad habits and not bother improving on them as you’re passing most everyone anyway; car saves low-skill & high ego drivers from almost idiotic maneuvers. Every person who told me, “wow, you’re so fast”, I just replied that it is the car (because it is true and comfortable with that fact).


---> Hope you guys enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed going through this new 991 GT3 RS experience. VIDEO and PICTURES to be up later tonight!

Will get my wife’s POV and maybe more insights next week for our 9/11 trackday at Pacific Raceways.

SSTHO

Getting excited ready after 4hr drive w/2hrs sleep





White 991 GT3 and 991 GT3 RS; pre-track





Priscilla looks ready to do what she was born to do





Still not quite used to the rear view of this car; maybe it'll grow on me over time like the air side intakes





Black 991 GT3 w/PCCB and Trofeo R's. B. was the winner of GT3 DE Cup today!





Looks great in black; think it looks better than RS from this angle





Love it.





Gorgeous!





Post-track duty! Now it looks right.





Glad I decided on a full wrap!





Car still looks gigantic. I think I know what I'm doing on Sunday,... gotta buy cleaning supplies now.

TRAKCAR

Awesome Stephen!! Thank you thank you thank you.
Mine is purple so no none will notice, that white storm trooper look is a bit much for me ;-)
No challenge atbthe track?! Other cars will catch up and the badass GT3 drovers will still be close. But i hope RS's for everyone!!

What a report. NOW IM EXCITED ABOUT THE CAR!!!!!!

ChrisF

Awesome Stephen! Thanks for sharing. I'm hoping after some more seat time, the full blown love affair begins.