djcxxx

Cutting to the chase, if the new RS motor has reworked internals that make it a suitable basis for motorsport, regardless of the basic architecture shared w/ the GT3, then the GT3 becomes irrelevant. It doesn't matter how brilliant the car is or isn't, it will be an evolutionary dead end. Resale has never been an issue for me because I believe both the cars and the income to buy them are disposable. I am more concerned about the long term longevity of a motor designed to routinely hit 9K. The design and content of the RS motor will speak to the robustness of the GT3 motor one way or another.

mrsullivan

i think that is very well summarized, +1

Dan39

That seems to be right - Porsche is effectively 'burying its dead and moving on' from the GT3 engine with a more reliable design. Not surprising given the reputational damage that the company would want to close the book.

neanicu

That's not right IMO and pretty f up...What about the 991 GT3 owners that have invested in the car?

djcxxx

In the immortal words from Animal House: "You f'up, you trusted us".

Guest89

Porsche as a company has never really given a **** about any of its customers. That goes back a long way...

kosmo

^^^ sad, but true

Petevb

The assumption you are making is that Porsche is making changes due to a lack of reliability, or that keeping the platform would indicate it is reliable. I suspect that both are false.

Previous Mezger GT engine reliability was largely defined by the little stuff. Cam adjusters, freeze plugs, coolant hose welding, etc, but of course the little stuff was big enough to blow engines and crash cars at the track. Most issues were addressed when each new evolution of the engine came out (ie the 4.0 got updated cam adjusters, etc). But this did nothing to improve the old ones- they were just as reliable (or not) as they always had been.

If the 9A1 isn't retained that doesn't indicate it couldn't be "fixed" for the next generation as the old engines always were. I'd say it's more likely to do with product life cycles- the 9A1 has simply been around a long time. You're designing a new race engine platform that might be around for ten years and used in thousands of cars. Why use 6 year old designs and parts that are about to go out of production when you can use brand new parts that are presumably lighter and better? Bonus: you can now say that the engines in your race cars are "the same" as in the regular 911s again.

Keep the Mezger going in motorsports, test some concepts and designs you want to use in the new engine on the 9A1 GT3, then concentrate on the future and put all your development wood behind the new platform arrow. Makes sense, and it doesn't mean they didn't deliver the best motor they could at the time for the 991 GT3. Again, given the choice between 9A1 GT3 and Mezger, both stock, I'd choose the 9A1. The 9A1 needed to end somewhere, might as well be with the GT3. Simple engineering and product management, doesn't indicate a rotten apple to me at all.

kosmo

soo true. Did you know its costs $1,400 on the 918 SPyder?!!!!

997rs4.0

To state the obvious, Porsche can't afford to screw up this new engine! They are basically "risking" the entire 991 generation! I would have loved to see a lot more testing. Instead of trying to play hide and seek. Just wrap it in camo and drive 5 cars around the Ring for a couple of weeks and see what brakes! Interesting times for us Porsche lovers. I still think the 1.3 is a great buy! Just look at all the positive feedback here and around the world!!! Except for the big mishap the engine seems bullet proof so far?

tripleblack

What Pete said. The 991 RS engine has been in the works since 2011/12 or earlier. The 9A1 GT3 engine issue was merely coincidence. The RS was always going to be a 2015 model launch. PAG is merely following their growth plan and associated product pipeline.

kosmo

IF the RS comes w/ an "all new/different" engine, how many of us would be willing to own a 991 gt3 past its warranty period???

997rs4.0

You're right! They have probably double, triple, quadruple checked that everything is holding up! Just me being nervous about new stuff! I'll just wait a year and see how everything goes!

Conekilr

I think people are over re-acting to this. Wither or not the RS gets a completely new engine, the GT3 will continue to stand on it's own merits and will then probably go down in history as one of the all time best performance value to ever come out of Porsche and become sought after for it's uniqueness as a one off generation !!

There, does that make you feel better

TRAKCAR

FIFY.