I have spent time in many 992s and a 992 including on the track. I fully admit the 992 GT3 is better on track. On the road I think the 991 suspension is a better ride. That does not make it peak. For example the power train is very similar. I think with the exception of the rear wing the 991 looks much better. I know looks can be deceiving. As far as the interior the 992 has too many screens and too many buttons on the wheel. In fact every generation of GT car has become less driver focused and more catered to the masses.

 

Exactly. This thread is veering dangerously close to "what's the best color".

I think it's perfectly fine to have a subjective opinion about things. Though you can't really debate metrics or lap times - you can still have preferences based on looks, feel, experience. Saying "Your subjective opinion is absolutely wrong"...Come on, man.

In every conceivable way, the 996 trounces the 993 in terms of objective performance and though the 996 is a sweet driving car, I wouldn't trade the experience and feel and looks of the 993 for it.

I do think the user experience is significantly altered by the 992 interior and its much heavier PCM integration. Some people may like that - I ultimately did not. The gauges are a big deal.

Looks, of course, are totally subjective. To me it matters. The GT3 isn't just a purely functional track car and it isn't supposed to be particularly raw or hard core. Compared to a real race car, they are Cadillacs.Which is fine. It would absolutely suck to drive a race car on the street.

A street car is not just numbers and it's not like we're comparing a Ferrari to a CR-V. The performance differences are not huge and absolute differences in lap times likely requires real skill to extract a meaningful delta - some of which may depend on the track itself. In the end it's about the complete package and your individual priorities.

And in all honesty, it doesn't really matter anyway. I had my choices (like we all do) between 992 and 1.2, and I picked what I wanted.

 

There is no doubt the 992 GT3 is a “ better” car than the 991.2. That being said I sold my 992 Touring and kept my 991.2. I prefer almost everything about the 991. Looks (subjective), ride, interior (gauges, infotainment) , door handles, not having the light weight glass ( less to worry about), and a few other things. I am not saying that the 992 is not an amazing car. Just my personal opinion.

 

BUT BRO THE GAUGES ARE DIGITAL NOW

 

The peak variant is the one you can comfortably own and enjoy. We all have different wants, needs, opinions and finances.

 

Peak for me and legions of car enthusiasts. Been told so many times, "if I could have just one car..."

Every 991.2 lives up to the hype -- winged, Touring, 3 RS, 2 RS, Speedster. Like a 911 Dream Team starting 5.

The cues that Porsche struggled to progress from 991.2 are clear, imo.

 

I put 18k miles on my 991.2 and felt the exact same way until pulled the trigger on 992. The first two days I questioned my decision as it was hard letting go of the best car I had ever owned. Now after 4K miles on 992 since June I don’t even think about the previous one. Im not bashing here just sharing my experience. As I said these are the best cars I have driven.

The driving experience is better in every metric. Road and track. Don’t agree with reviewers who drive the car for one day and state that it’s too stiff. It’s a GT car not a turbo. I don’t expect it to be overly compliant. That’s part of the reason I bought it. If it wasn’t I’d own a turbo s. The 991.2 on its sportiest setting (which is how I drove it everyday) is the 992 on normal setting.

I had two close calls on my 991.2 with understeer. It was bad to the point I’ll never forget them. With the 992 I’ve purposely tried to understeer and it laughs at me saying try again buddy. It is an overall incremental upgrade but an upgrade nonetheless. I had my 991.2 tuned with full dundon headers and exhaust and the 992 out the box was quicker. Now after adding dundon system again it’s more than enough for my needs.

I do admit the instrument cluster in the 991 has a classic look, but when you’re driving are you really looking at all 5 dials? I look at my speed (which if anyone says they look at their speed on the 991 on the tach and not the digital number they’re lying) and I look at rev counter. That’s about it. The 992 shift lights allows you to have a little extra focus on the road by not having to see if you’re at redline. (All my cars are manual btw).

is the 991.2 peak? I dunno. is it a prettier car? That’s for each person to decide. The 991.1 engine issues will lead to an asterisk next to the 991 gen. Peak should also mean reliability. The 992 has glass issues? I think I read somewhere like 20 something people on here? Even at 100 that’s 4% of the 2500+ cars made. Non issue imo.

I had no intention on getting a 992.1 gt3. I actually went to my dealer in October 2021 and asked them to put me on the list for a 992.2 gt3 (touring) if they make it. Felt as OP did and figured wait 4 years hoping for a 4.2 engine and by it being that many years away I could keep my 991.2 and add a car. (Trying to get like mooty 😬 ). Had my spec built on the configurator and all.

then the car I currently own dropped at the same dealer in June. It had 28 options out of 30 from my spec that I built. So a 93% match. Only difference caliper color and bucket seats. So it was either wait 3 more years and still not be guaranteed a car and potentially have two. Or trade 991.2 now and get pretty much exactly what I wanted.

now to be a contrarian if the dealer called you guys tomorrow and said hey we have a buildable allocation for a 2023 gt3 at sticker but you have to trade in your gt3 would you do it? If so why?

 

I've had both 991.2 GT3 and 992 GT3 (both Manual). Been many days since I even thought about the 991

It's possible that peak GT3 has already occurred (maybe 997 RS 4.0), but more likely it's still to come...

 

I asked myself that question and chewed on it for awhile before pulling the trigger - I actually talked to a fellow owner yesterday who had a 992 GT3 allocation and turned it down to keep his 991.2 Touring. When you make the decision to purposely buy an older model car, you do it with your eyes open. The newer car will always be faster, it will always have better numbers, more hype and social media capital, bigger crowds at C&C. And let me say - I do think the 992 GT3 is a great car. Like Chris Harris said, “Porsche doesn’t make worse newer cars”

The 992 TTS was an exceptionally good driving car - I have no doubt the 992 GT3T is the same. But while the Carrera and Turbo 991.2s were not super impressive to me, the 991.2 GT3, on the other hand, is a very sweet driving car. So *for me* it was the ancillary things that made the decision and not the incremental performance improvements with the 992.

Of course that’s just me. I happened to value the aesthetics, interior and smaller size and sound of the 1.2 high on my list, and felt that performance while undoubtedly superior in the 992, was going to be a wash for me on a street driven car. Coming from a TTS, all these cars are slow anyway.

 

your last sentence is where I am. I went from a 1.1 turbo with 68mm VTG’s to the 1.2RS. RS is slow for sure. I am considering a 992 TTS or 488 to round out the garage. I need something with forced induction and I don’t want a 2RS and 3RS at the same time.

 

every 911 is better than the last one. i've heard that for decades and i agree with that statement.
i totally expect current 992-prior 991 owners to confirm that. 992 looks newer. the 992rs looks like
pure racecar--which is awesome. but artistically, the 991.2 has the cleanest lines and it will
never look bad; but would fail a NFS:Most Wanted contest!

 

That definitely wasn’t true in the 70’s and was doubtful at the end of the 90’s but more plausible lately (but certainly far from a unanimous opinion).

 

The previous gen is the best and the newest isn’t as good has been played out literally every gen since I’ve been alive starting with the 993 to 996 when I was a kid

This has been so played out Everytime

my 2 cents is I love the 997 and 993 and a lot of older “enthusiast” cars….but it is a lot more fun to have those cars in their hey day than try and be stuck in the past.

I know a 993 probably will be the most “fun” 911 ive ever driven….but it’s not 1996 anymore and I’ve moved on so I try the new flavors and probably will hopefully for many years to come.

really excited to try a gt4rs next

 

At the end of the day, we are talking subjective preferences. Like picking a favorite color: no right or wrong answer. I happen to have a 993, 991 GT3 and a 992 C2S and my favorite for street driving is the 993 by a substantial margin. My favorite on the track is the 991.2 GT3. My least favorite is the 992 (but that's mostly due to the awful PDK transmission that is a concession to that car being mostly for my wife or houseguests to use.)

 

Now that's a spicy take. I don't think many would choose a 996 GT3 over a 991.2 GT3. Care to elaborate?

I can think some reasonable people could be put off by the size and loss of hydraulic steering in the 991 but the 4.0 and manual gearbox are objectively masterpieces. Engine and transmission are at the top of my priority list for a fun car.