First Real World Owners Feedback?
12-15-2013, 10:37 PM
#466
Advanced
Gents you have made my wife's day (mine too because if she feels better about riding shotgun then its all good!).
Actually the woopsy moment seems much less of an issue if you see the balance of the email (car stabilizes perfectly and we are of into the next bend albeit it at reduced pace!). Had to edit due to severe telling off from wifey caught on gopro!
The engine seems a peach. Chuntters and whurrs on idle and low gear manvouring but sounds hard and metallic up around 8-9000 rpm. Time spent in those regions seems all too short - the needle seems to fly around and next you know its a change in gear. They say the RS may have a lighter flywheel and even more aggressive PDK software - if so I can only imagine it will be faster to 9000 and even briefer periods there. I havent spent alot of time at 9000. I find for fast road driving you are best staying in the peak torque band and for this car that means around 4.5-6.5k rpm is your home. On the track I see 7-9k being regularly visited and this is the best arena to savour the thrill of this free revving engine. Torque seems very "fat" to me from 4.5k-6.5k and this is the meat if you want to do road work. With fast road you need to be around peak torque in corners and on tricky surfaces so you have full throttle adjust-ability immediately at hand, you dont want to fall into a torque hole just when you need to apply power to get yourself out of power and yet you need some momentum behind that crankshaft so when you button off the gas the car corrects quickly.
Powerwise it feels like what it says on the wrapper, although as previously said the most powerful car Ive owned was a 400 bhp M5 and the most powerful 911 Ive spend decent seat time in was a 400 bhp 993TT and 420 bhp 996TT. It feels like more power than all three of course but finding the roads to apply all that power not so easy. I havent even done a launch control launch yet or a paddle neutral drift as I simply have started easy and built up on the basics. With warm tyres and tarmac and no passenger I will attempt a 0-100 launch soon, but for sliding the car around using paddle neutral I think I need a track to practice first. The speeds this machine carried when doing anything is a few steps up on what I am used to! For example the top speeds I attached those windy roads today were nearing 100 mph (160kmph) on the straights - they are rated 90 kmph - but in reality many of the corners would have been rated between 25km - 55kmph in my own country and were dispatched by the GT3 with poise at 65-105kmph.
In terms of the PDK I have no reference. Paddle shifting is by far my preference now and I use it everywhere outside of towns and traffic. The auto function is very intuitive and seems to learn your style but for aggressive driving I have only use paddle and Im really starting to enjoy it as it gives me both hands on the wheel to adjust steering inputs and judge braking points. Today even driven much quicker than on the clip we stayed almost always in our lane (apart from on longer stretches with better visibility) and this was testament to the extra time you have for placement and the incredible grip of the chassis. In the 993 to drive with that attitude you would need more of the road or you would be tempting fate with understeer or oversteer often!
Radio silence from me Im afraid for the next few days as touristic things in Cinque Terra region take precedence and wife gets much deserved time as a biped on terra firma! Dont worry, my next mountain road foray will be alone with gopro and Im sure we will continue o explore the 991 GT3 chassis on the road. We still have 2 more weeks of driving to go. Once the car arrives in NZ it will complete a 6000 km tour of south island with 4 full days at 4 different south island race tracks - so plenty of time to learn it on track downstream...
Actually the woopsy moment seems much less of an issue if you see the balance of the email (car stabilizes perfectly and we are of into the next bend albeit it at reduced pace!). Had to edit due to severe telling off from wifey caught on gopro!
The engine seems a peach. Chuntters and whurrs on idle and low gear manvouring but sounds hard and metallic up around 8-9000 rpm. Time spent in those regions seems all too short - the needle seems to fly around and next you know its a change in gear. They say the RS may have a lighter flywheel and even more aggressive PDK software - if so I can only imagine it will be faster to 9000 and even briefer periods there. I havent spent alot of time at 9000. I find for fast road driving you are best staying in the peak torque band and for this car that means around 4.5-6.5k rpm is your home. On the track I see 7-9k being regularly visited and this is the best arena to savour the thrill of this free revving engine. Torque seems very "fat" to me from 4.5k-6.5k and this is the meat if you want to do road work. With fast road you need to be around peak torque in corners and on tricky surfaces so you have full throttle adjust-ability immediately at hand, you dont want to fall into a torque hole just when you need to apply power to get yourself out of power and yet you need some momentum behind that crankshaft so when you button off the gas the car corrects quickly.
Powerwise it feels like what it says on the wrapper, although as previously said the most powerful car Ive owned was a 400 bhp M5 and the most powerful 911 Ive spend decent seat time in was a 400 bhp 993TT and 420 bhp 996TT. It feels like more power than all three of course but finding the roads to apply all that power not so easy. I havent even done a launch control launch yet or a paddle neutral drift as I simply have started easy and built up on the basics. With warm tyres and tarmac and no passenger I will attempt a 0-100 launch soon, but for sliding the car around using paddle neutral I think I need a track to practice first. The speeds this machine carried when doing anything is a few steps up on what I am used to! For example the top speeds I attached those windy roads today were nearing 100 mph (160kmph) on the straights - they are rated 90 kmph - but in reality many of the corners would have been rated between 25km - 55kmph in my own country and were dispatched by the GT3 with poise at 65-105kmph.
In terms of the PDK I have no reference. Paddle shifting is by far my preference now and I use it everywhere outside of towns and traffic. The auto function is very intuitive and seems to learn your style but for aggressive driving I have only use paddle and Im really starting to enjoy it as it gives me both hands on the wheel to adjust steering inputs and judge braking points. Today even driven much quicker than on the clip we stayed almost always in our lane (apart from on longer stretches with better visibility) and this was testament to the extra time you have for placement and the incredible grip of the chassis. In the 993 to drive with that attitude you would need more of the road or you would be tempting fate with understeer or oversteer often!
Radio silence from me Im afraid for the next few days as touristic things in Cinque Terra region take precedence and wife gets much deserved time as a biped on terra firma! Dont worry, my next mountain road foray will be alone with gopro and Im sure we will continue o explore the 991 GT3 chassis on the road. We still have 2 more weeks of driving to go. Once the car arrives in NZ it will complete a 6000 km tour of south island with 4 full days at 4 different south island race tracks - so plenty of time to learn it on track downstream...
12-15-2013, 11:07 PM
#467
Racer
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 305
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Gents - enjoy this video - one of many shot today and proof that they actually fitted TRACTION CONTROL to my GT3 (I was wondering for days if they had!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgKvx...ature=youtu.be
Please could someone embed this for me as I cant seem to work out how?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgKvx...ature=youtu.be
Please could someone embed this for me as I cant seem to work out how?
electronic intervention in the SPORT and WET settings happens much earlier for the F458 and would not allow a big slide of the rear like this.
macca, did you have the normal setting on? if so i am getting a bit concerned that
the electronics in the GT3 are programmed to act very very late.
peter
12-16-2013, 12:17 AM
#468
Nordschleife Master
this looks exactly like the traction control programming of the F458 in RACE mode.
electronic intervention in the SPORT and WET settings happens much earlier for the F458 and would not allow a big slide of the rear like this.
macca, did you have the normal setting on? if so i am getting a bit concerned that
the electronics in the GT3 are programmed to act very very late.
peter
electronic intervention in the SPORT and WET settings happens much earlier for the F458 and would not allow a big slide of the rear like this.
macca, did you have the normal setting on? if so i am getting a bit concerned that
the electronics in the GT3 are programmed to act very very late.
peter
12-16-2013, 12:59 AM
#469
Nordschleife Master
This is why I was expecting owners reviews. All this insight provided by Macca is far far more valuable than some of those panties twisting journos. Sliding cars around on closed roads is not real life driving,it just looks good on camera.
Thank you for the videos and thank your wife for being brave.
I know it's easy from behind the screen to tell you to take it easy and be safe,I'd probably be driving the same way...
Enjoy man,you deserve it,you are one of the brave whom have defended the car from the beginning and I hope it even surpasses your expectations!
Be safe!
Thank you for the videos and thank your wife for being brave.
I know it's easy from behind the screen to tell you to take it easy and be safe,I'd probably be driving the same way...
Enjoy man,you deserve it,you are one of the brave whom have defended the car from the beginning and I hope it even surpasses your expectations!
Be safe!
12-16-2013, 01:09 AM
#470
Nordschleife Master
Gents - enjoy this video - one of many shot today and proof that they actually fitted TRACTION CONTROL to my GT3 (I was wondering for days if they had!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgKvx...ature=youtu.be
Please could someone embed this for me as I cant seem to work out how?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgKvx...ature=youtu.be
Please could someone embed this for me as I cant seem to work out how?
Macca, in order to embed a youtube video, you need to
place the youtube ID for you video, XgKvxYiEGQU, in between the YT markers like this:
[Y T]XgKvxYiEGQU[/Y T]
just remove the space I placed between the Y and T
So you get this:
12-16-2013, 01:55 AM
#471
Racer
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 305
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12-16-2013, 02:00 AM
#472
Drifting
Macca, for all the time you have put into the video's and picture's, we owe you mate.
cheers
cheers
Last edited by silverrules; 12-16-2013 at 11:58 AM.
12-16-2013, 02:16 AM
#473
Race Director
It just dawned on me that with a right hand drive car, when you put the transmission in manual is actually further away from you.
In left hand drive cars, when we get to enjoy the manual lever closer to us. Does that feel awkward?
Ps: just saw the highway driving video... My GPS that sounds wonderful. Funny how you and the wifey just stare at each other with a quiet knowing "that was a cool sound" look LOL
In left hand drive cars, when we get to enjoy the manual lever closer to us. Does that feel awkward?
Ps: just saw the highway driving video... My GPS that sounds wonderful. Funny how you and the wifey just stare at each other with a quiet knowing "that was a cool sound" look LOL
12-16-2013, 03:14 AM
#474
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
OrthoJoe. Thans for the advice regards Youtube embedding. Much appreciated.
CAlexio. Yes I found a few weird things regards the RHD version. The car is clearly set up for LHD - the fuel cap is on drivers die of my car, the stereo volume is on passengers site, the PDLS lights need reversing from their natural position for RHD country and as such remind you you have them set for a foreign land everytime you will drive the car in a RHD country (I have that to look forward to in NZ!) according to the manual and lastly the gear shifter into manual is away from the driver which although only a very minor issue doesnt feel natural for the 0.25s you are performing the task. Having never owned a PDK I can assume ll boxes of this type from germany regardless of the manufacturer are probably the same as it would be a huge engineering cost to change it for 15-20% of the worlds cars that are RHD.
So the car is definitely more suited to LHD! I think however since the beginning of the 911 thats always beenthe case..
CAlexio. Yes I found a few weird things regards the RHD version. The car is clearly set up for LHD - the fuel cap is on drivers die of my car, the stereo volume is on passengers site, the PDLS lights need reversing from their natural position for RHD country and as such remind you you have them set for a foreign land everytime you will drive the car in a RHD country (I have that to look forward to in NZ!) according to the manual and lastly the gear shifter into manual is away from the driver which although only a very minor issue doesnt feel natural for the 0.25s you are performing the task. Having never owned a PDK I can assume ll boxes of this type from germany regardless of the manufacturer are probably the same as it would be a huge engineering cost to change it for 15-20% of the worlds cars that are RHD.
So the car is definitely more suited to LHD! I think however since the beginning of the 911 thats always beenthe case..
12-16-2013, 03:18 AM
#475
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
I agree, I was quite pleased this isnt overbearing - as I say I only found it yesterday on a very damp and slippery corner. However Ive pushed on in the car over to Bobbio through the hills down to 3 celcius and never had it cut in before so personally I find they have set the levels really well....
12-16-2013, 03:27 AM
#476
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
This is why I was expecting owners reviews. All this insight provided by Macca is far far more valuable than some of those panties twisting journos. Sliding cars around on closed roads is not real life driving,it just looks good on camera.
Thank you for the videos and thank your wife for being brave.
I know it's easy from behind the screen to tell you to take it easy and be safe,I'd probably be driving the same way...
Enjoy man,you deserve it,you are one of the brave whom have defended the car from the beginning and I hope it even surpasses your expectations!
Be safe!
Thank you for the videos and thank your wife for being brave.
I know it's easy from behind the screen to tell you to take it easy and be safe,I'd probably be driving the same way...
Enjoy man,you deserve it,you are one of the brave whom have defended the car from the beginning and I hope it even surpasses your expectations!
Be safe!
I defended the car from the beginning because no one here had driven it but plenty were quick to rubbish it.
Ive tried to be impartial in my evaluations and Im not looking at this taking happy pills. There are aspects of the car I am still not sure on, personal preferences Im still on the fence about. There is no dobt however it fullfils what i expected of the driving experience - primarily that its as far removed from my other 911 as a walk in the mountains is from an Apollo journey to the moon - and for me that is not a bad thing. That said there is still stuff here for the purists to question. I wont say more till Ive spent a few more weeks with the car, another maybe 2000 miles in a variety of conditions and roads and maybe even a race track before I given my final all encompassing first 4000 km type review. By then i should hope Ive driven it as lomg and as hard on a wide variety of roads and temps from autobahn to goat track, driven hard as I can and also DD's it around villages in the region looking for a lunch time restaurant etc that I should be as well versed as anyone to comment on the subject - but dont be thinking Ill be anything but brutally hones about this car - it needs to earn my respect before it becomes a "keeper". I wont be talking this car up just because I own one - frankly if i dont like its ll just shop it in and buy something else to play with....
12-16-2013, 03:33 AM
#477
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
this looks exactly like the traction control programming of the F458 in RACE mode.
electronic intervention in the SPORT and WET settings happens much earlier for the F458 and would not allow a big slide of the rear like this.
macca, did you have the normal setting on? if so i am getting a bit concerned that
the electronics in the GT3 are programmed to act very very late.
peter
electronic intervention in the SPORT and WET settings happens much earlier for the F458 and would not allow a big slide of the rear like this.
macca, did you have the normal setting on? if so i am getting a bit concerned that
the electronics in the GT3 are programmed to act very very late.
peter
Although you may feel that the system has been made too lenient Peter, I really think you'd have to push on to activate it mate. The chassis has huge grip and in anything but wet or icy weather youd hardly need it. Infact changing the tyres to Michelin Super Sports (which I will do for the road when these MPSC2s wear out) will probably mean you hardly ever see the TC light flicker unless you ware going for an early morning mountain pass drive...
Cheers
