Mike in CA

It's funny because even though I'm already committed with the lift, the lift/no lift discussion has me scanning every driveway and parking lot entrance; I need to be careful or I'll rear end someone! I've even considered taking photos to show all of the driveways I see with deep scape marks in the pavement where people with no-doubt much more ground clearance than a GT3 are making contact.

In a normal year it rains a lot here in NorCal (not SF). Streets are usually crowned and angle down to the gutter. Occasionally a sidewalk is pretty far above street grade, the driveway entrance is often short and well sloped, and the transition from street/gutter to parking lot grade is fairly abrupt. These are the situations where you have to take a slow, very angled approach in a low vehicle assuming you can make it at all. I'm not concerned about a minor scrape of the spoiler, but major contact. Aside from my own driveway (which is more of the light scrape variety), I run into these kind of serious situations maybe 5% of the time.

The only argument I see against the lift is cost. At 6kg or a bit over 13lbs weight is a non-issue IMO. The car has a 4yr/50K warranty in the US so reliability concerns are well down the road. But it's a totally subjective call as to whether the lift is "worth" the money. From my perspective, I'd rather spend $3K on something that might spare my car damage rather than a set of fancy LED headlights or extra leather bits, but that's just me. I understand that YMMV.

My last $.02 on this subject.

24Chromium

These lift/no lift threads crack me up. If you guys aren't buying the lift out of weight concerns... I'm really curious as to how many of you are ticking the box for radio/PCM delete. Seriously, if you're that concerned about weight, you should be going with PCCBs, LiON batteries, or going all out and stripping the interior all together!

I've owned two 997.2s. One the GT3 and the next the GT3 RS. Both had the lift and I wouldn't buy without it. Even though the RS was first and foremost a track car, I actually used the lift to get it into/out of the trailer. Otherwise, the splitter rubbed on the ramp (which is essentially rubber-coated rocks). It ground up the spitter quite badly. And yes, I have Race Ramps, the longest ones they sell off-the-shelf.

The good news on the 991 front is that it's my understanding that the overhangs are actually less than on the 997s. However, I'm not sure I buy that on the front of the new GT3, since the nose bulges out so much.

As for driveways... absolutely have to have the lift. My driveway is completely flat, but the transition from the street is just enough to make it scrape. And even worse, when I put the Cup car splitter on (it hangs down another 1.5 ~ 2cm) it would scrape even WITH the lift up. Besides driveways, I've even scraped on the street, especially at some intersections.

Lastly, I will admit, both my GT cars had the lift go bad. The first one twice. Fortunately, they were all fixed under warranty.

911dev

all excellent considerations, however, many have owned the same cars without any issues sans lift.

that said, agreed if weight is inhibited the purchase; that's ridiculous.

reidry

Well that solidifies it for me, I'm leaving the lift on my build. I've got 6' ramp extensions in addition to a 6' loading door. That is the longest made off the shelf and my trailer is low. Had to be careful with my previous car and the GT3 is .4" lower.

Ryan

Nick

FWIW, Porsche is charging over $10,000 for the 918 lift. Yep, it is an option on an almost million dollar car. Porsche gives nothing away.

CAlexio

Since we are being quite lenient with each other when we repeat information, I'll repeat my 2c. The dealer told me that on the 991 gt3, the front lift is THE must have option, and that resale will significantly differ with this option specced.

911dev

Sorry for my redundancy. I respect what you have to say, but your salesman knows nothing more than we do and quite possibly less.

Lift is predicated by topography and use.

I beg to differ on resale. Sure, some may lose buyers without the lift, however, will likely recover less than 25% of its initial cost.

Sounds like the same as salesman talk when the .2s came out.

Nick

My salesperson said the opposite. Unless you have a serious daily situation with steep inclines, the lifter value is questionable. In addition, because of prior mechanical problems the lifter is a hinderance on resale.

Serge944

This lifter debate is just plain stupid.

It depends on individual needs, individual uses, and the individual.

It's like trying to convince 350 lb Joe into buying sport buckets because it will increase resale value.

I've owned a GT3 without lift, I've owned one with lift? Is it useful? Yes. Is it mandatory? Only death and taxes are mandatory.

CAlexio

Youre right, we should go back to debating the value of black headlights or red deviating stitching.. .. Everything we discuss is frivolous and stupid, it's just pure entertainment for those moment when we're on the ****ter or to wind down after sex, we just grab our phones and tap away some inanitity.....




.......Anyway, we all know that anyone who doesn't get lift will regret it dearly, so it's a moot point.

911dev

you're right AND you win!

Macca

I can confirm today that some big speedbumps (not the rounded ones but the ones that ramp up then flat for 2 metres then ramp down) you will possibly scrape the front plastic lip no matter how slow you thake these if you are taking them straight on. In Italy I did not find such massive speed humps (and nor do such mammoth things exist often in NZ - we have the rounded ones usually) but in France these are more common and I have now scrapped the nose twice coming in and out of Monaco and St Tropez (same speed bump each time - seems there around 4 in each town but often one which is more aggressive than the others). That said havent scraped once whilst driving fast through the twisties because unlike the Italians the French dont put manhole covers all over their roads then after years of seal they become like massive pot holes sunken below road level!

So I can now say I have encountered 4-6 individual situations in 4 countries and 2500km where lift definitely would have saved a scrape. There have a similar number of examples where due to poor road surfaces, bumpy cork screws or driving fast through dips with poor surface inconsistency that I have touched the lip which would have been unavoidable.

Again, depends on your situation of living, driving style and habits (i.e. you must remember also to us ethe lift etc). If you have $3K spare and some problem roads (speed bumps or touch driveways and lips to car park entrances) on your doorstep the lift is probably worth the investment. However if you are enjoying this car on the road I suspect you will find you get scrapes on the lip that are not avoidable via lift....

Just my 2 cents worth...

CAlexio

Your advice is Worth more like $3500, not just.2c.. Continue to enjoy Macca!

FastLaneTurbo

On my radically lowered 996 street Turbo with GT2 Front bumper, I simply removed the lower lip for street driving and parking garages and replaced it for Track Driving only. Problem solved!
A more elegant solution might be to retrofit the inflatable lower lip of the 991 Turbo and a small pump to inflate it when needed - I think it is only a matter of time until a similar after-market solution is found.

FastLaneTurbo

I've never found commercial "Race Ramps" adequately long for getting my
VERY low race cars on the trailer. My solution was to go to Home Depot
and pick up 2X12 Boards, 12 feet long. They worked great and stored under the car after loading. For getting onto the 1.75 inch thick boards, two shorter 3 foot 2X12 boards with front edges cut at 45 Degree angles are placed in front of the
front tires to lift the car onto the longer ramps. Works every time - and cheap!