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Carmine Rocket Ship! Perfection...except for this one thing.
New Year's Eve was a truly special day for me. Partly because it was my birthday, partly because we turned the clock to 2018 and largely because it's the day I picked up my new Carmine Red 2018 991.2 GT3!!! From the moment Nicholas at The Auto Gallery Porsche in LA handed me the keys to when I rolled up at my front door in NorCal last night, it was a magical ride. Best 600 mile road trip ever!
What a car!!! I won't go on about the way that it feels telepathically connected to the road, how spectacularly mechanical and precise the manual transmission is, or the way it relentlessly piles on the MPH when you burry the right foot. Y'all who own one already know about all of that stuff. And for those of you who haven't driven one in person yet - all of the superlatives you've read about here on Rennlist and have heard in the reviews are true. Seriously!
A few observations that I haven't seen articulated in recent posts:
- The GT3's frunk doesn't get nearly as hot as the GT4's after extended range driving. That's a good thing for keeping food in there!
- The no-cost leather trim option works far better in person than I thought it might. Even with red stitching, red dials and red stripes on the seats, the interior feels exciting but not too busy.
- I was a bit surprised to hear that the GT3 doesn't backfire and burble like my GT4 does (note that the GT4 has Cargraphic sport headers).
- F'ing hell does this thing have rear-end grip. While I can toss the GT4 into a slide with relative ease, I've gotta wail on the GT3 to get its rear end to step out.
- People stare at this car. A lot.
- It might be worthwhile to carry a set of adult diapers in the globe box (this is my friend's recent suggestion).
- The sports exhaust button doesn't have nearly as much of an effect at low speeds as the GT4's does. In fact, it's only noticeable at idle and then again above 3-4k RPM.
Speaking of exhaust flaps, they're the one delivery problem I had with the car. About 20 miles in, I noticed that the sport exhaust button didn't seem to be doing anything. I also experienced a rather annoying drone at a constant ~70-80mph in 6th gear. Sure enough, I got under the car last night and saw that the driver's side vacuum tube was disconnected from the nipple on the rear solenoid, rendering at least half of the system partially non-functional. Sonnen Porsche was kind enough to throw a new crimp clamp onto the car the spot for me this afternoon, and it killed the highway drone completely. So, I suppose y'all can take that as an FYI to those considering plugging their vacuum tubes permanently.
So, overall: damn. This thing is next level ****. Can't wait to drive it again. And again. And again. And....
Cheers,
Kevin
Last edited by kbGT; 01-03-2018 at 05:30 PM.
Reason: Editing image selection
Were you at laguna on 12/31 with speedSF? I thought I saw a red GT3 on track, but didn't realize it was a .2. The .2 that I was driving ended might have the same problem you did and it would certainly explain why the GPS box stopped working. I'll check into it. Congrats and enjoy!
Awesome, congrats, I am liking the Carmine Red more and more......
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Congrats - enjoy in good health, carmine red looks so good on the .2 GT3. Great spec and great pictures. I plan on doing a similar drive when mine lands
Thanks for the tip on the drone/sports exhaust button/vacuum tube, good thing for owners to look out for