hf1

Can we also see the GT3 face-off from the upper right corner?

991 3Turbo

I think the 675 and the 488 ARE the writing on the wall. With Ferrari's extensive boost management software making their forced induction seem very N/A feeling, I think they have upped the ante quite a bit. Chris Harris liked the car very much and was astounded by its pace

We shall see, especially if they can make it sound good. Mac definitely sounds good!

Zeus

I think any true performance car enthusiast worth their salt absolutely understands the David vs. Goliath nature of comparisons such as this in relation to any 911 GT Porsche vs the competition.

I love the fact that we are even discussing these facts. Because on paper, the McLaren looks far, fare superior, and it is, but the GT3RS has it's own unique performance enhancing attributes that make it more than competitive with a car costing twice as much & is nearly as special overall as a whole.

The fact that this is making it difficult for Porsche is a Godsend to the enthusiast community. Imagine what Porsche may have on the drawing board, if it decides to enter the marketplace with the 960/988 - a supposed mid-engine competitor to the 488/P14(650S replacement).

The "real" test here, or a future test where everything being equal, would have been the 675 vs. 488 vs. 960. In the future it may be something similar to a "P14"LT vs. 488 Speciale vs. the 960.

My hope would be Porsche goes NA with the 960, even if it had less overall power than the competition (just like the RS) but would ultimately have a more "special" engine - especially if it were based on the 918's V8 or something similar. They will probably go with a twin or quad turbo flat-8 though. That is the rumor at least...

And the future 911 GTs? Perhaps they really will stay NA. We don't hear Ford talking about in the future, hybridizing their new flat-plane 8,250 5.2 V8 in the new GT350.

Ronan

I believe 960 is Quad turbo, flat 8, a modular development of the 9A1.

991 3Turbo

Fords REAL race stuff will continue to be twin turbo products. Also supposedly is the next GT500. We will wait and see, but Ecoboost products are now synonymous with Ford.

Tre

The addition of another tiered car (960/988) would definitely put the 911 GT cars in a niche market. If not, what competition class would it fall in? Essentially the hardcore variant of the 488 and the next version of the 650S would be by default a tier above if the (most likely) more expensive 960/988 falls into their tier. So would the 911 GT cars be paired with R8s (possibly to become F/I?), Z06s (nothing new here), NSXs (Vegas dealer quotes $150k MSRP), GTRs (although the R36 will go the same route as the NSX with some batteries), etc? Those definitely aren't the marquees that Porsche tends to class itself with as those manufacturers instead tend to baseline their performance off of Porsche.

I agree that evolution of the industry is fun and amazing, unless you're an "old school" purist who revolts against pretty much anything that's been developed over the last decade or so And that's honestly not a shot at anyone for I can and always will appreciate every segment and era of automobiles.

mainly

yes but this is the gt3rs.

there should be no excuses, certainly not against a viper acr!!! which is way less expensive than the rs let alone the maclaren.

it should be basically undefeated on track, thats the whole point of the car isnt it? its certainly too ridiculous looking to drive on the street.

fstockcarrera

I had the opportunity to drive back to back a 2015 GT3 and a 04 996 cup last Saturday. First to ask which street car is a better track car is well really ridiculous as all street cars are a compromise and none are that good at the track. They are fine at the track as a novice but not beyond. Buy the street car that suits your fancy but leave it in the garage and buy a track car. BTW a $75k 04 996 GT3 cup is 6 seconds faster then a stock 2015 GT3, at Lime Rock Park, a 1.53mile track. Street cars are heavy and too softly sprung to push them properly to their limits. IMO

ipse dixit

I don't necessarily disagree with you.

But your answer is a solution to a question that was never posed. At least not in this thread.

Because we're talking about street legal cars that also shine on the track.

fstockcarrera

My opinion is they Don't "shine at the track" My point. My perspective.

Drifting

Not everyone wants to spend the money necessary to run a Cup car.

Driving your GT3/RS to the track, and watching it hold its value compared to a cup car, are why GT cars are so popular.

Serge944

It's a myth that running a 996 CUP is any more expensive than a 996 GT3 street car. It's the same car.

Just because your street car's owner's manual doesn't give you a engine lifetime in hours doesn't mean that its any more resilient than the comparable race car.

The majority of GT3 street cars that are heavily tracked are simply inadequately maintained.

Serge944

Back to the topic at hand, the only serious european track car is the Porsche GT family.

This is because a track car's worth isn't just the lap times it produces. It's the community/knowledge base that comes with it - alignment setting, roll bar installation suggestions, maintenance and service information, aftermarket consumable performance, etc, etc, etc. This doesn't exist with any other high end european marque.

My McLaren was the best car I've ever owned, but I wouldn't buy it for a dedicated track car, because that marque doesn't come with the "complete package," regardless of how good it is on track.

fstockcarrera

Well yes and no. The engine 996-7 is bullet proof and will sustain just about any miss shift or over rev. But running slicks with consistent 1.7-1.9 cornering G's takes it toll on components. Yes it is the same cars but the cost are not for the faint of heart and only remotely similar under race conditions on slicks.

I love the new GT3's but they are not really suitable for the track as is other than the occasional track day. The Best street car to date that Porsche has built, i agree. But, 2015 GT3 will have a hard time keeping up with a well driven track set up, Carrera or 964, drivers being equal, certainly not in the corners. Sounds insane but that's reality as I know it having experience in all of them.

Yes most track cars are not maintained properly and are repaired when components fail instead of when they time out.

Still the new GT3's are beautiful cars but asking which casual sneakers are best to take to the local 5K, or how well this knife performs when compared to a gun is naive at best.

Love the new GT3's all the same

fstockcarrera

^^^^
This